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Marine Turtle Newsletter 67:6-8, © 1994
Eileen Stuart and Megan Cartin
VSO, Hydon Compound, 219/1 Sukhumvit Soi 4, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Current address:Scottish Natural Heritage, 2-4 Alexandra Buildings,
Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0LL U.K.
Khao Lumpee Hadd Thai Muang and Surin Island National Parks are located in Phang Nga Province in southern Thailand (8°64'N, 98°36'E). Khao Lumpee Hadd Thai Muang is a coastal site which includes 14 km of deserted beach, and is a nesting site for leatherback and olive ridley sea turtles. Surin Island is 60 km offshore and has hawksbill and olive ridley turtles nesting on its numerous small beaches. There is anecdotal evidence of green turtles nesting at both places. Historical information indicates there has been a dramatic decline in the number of turtles nesting at both places. This is likely to be due to excessive egg collection and high adult mortality in fishing gear offshore. Conservation programs (beach protection, egg hatcheries, headstarting of all hatchlings) were initiated by the Parks in the 1980's. In 1992, the Royal Forest Department requested two British volunteers to assist with conservation work in the Parks. Sea turtle conservation was seen by the volunteers to be a priority at both sites. Preliminary research and observation indicated that there were a number of problems with existing programs, including lack of organized egg collection, hatchery mismanagement, and unsuitable rearing conditions for headstarted hatchlings. These problems resulted in low hatching rates and poor hatchling survival. There was also little understanding of the potential problems associated with head-starting.
With support from the relevant agencies, the conservation programs were redesigned in an attempt to solve some of the problems. In addition, a technical seminar and training course were organized and attended by staff from all the Marine National Parks, as well as staff from other agencies (Settle et al. 1994). Educational material covering basic sea turtle biology and conservation was produced in Thai and distributed to all participants. At Hadd Thai Muang, where egg poaching by local people is a problem and in situ nest protection is impractical due to the length of the beach and a shortage of manpower, nightly patrols were reorganized and assistance was received from the local naval station. The importance of speedy removal of eggs was emphasized. The hatchery was redesigned and made secure. A log book was maintained by Park staff and all the hatchlings were released upon emergence. At Surin Island the initial aim was to erase the tracks and leave the nests in situ (nesting is widely dispersed and egg collection difficult). It soon became evident, however, that nests were vulnerable to predation by monitor lizards and theft by local Sea Gypsies, who were involved in the project. Nest relocation was therefore necessary, and the Sea Gypsies were given financial incentives to help. A new hatchery was built and the hatchlings were released upon emergence. Data collected during the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 nesting seasons are summarized below.
|
Thai Muang National Park |
30 Oct 1992 - 8 Mar 1993 |
8 Oct 1993 - 28 Feb 1994 |
||
|
L 1 |
non-L 1 |
L |
non-L |
|
|
Nests collected |
17 |
11 |
-- |
5 |
|
Total no. eggs |
1717 |
1281 |
-- |
547 |
|
Mean clutch size |
101 |
116 |
-- |
109 |
|
% hatched 2 |
4.36 % |
17.48% |
-- |
87 % |
|
No. released 3 |
1 |
103 |
-- |
475 |
|
% released |
-- |
8 % |
-- |
86.8 % |
|
Nests poached/fc 4 |
12 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Surin Island National Park |
22 Sep 1992 - |
13 Oct 1993 - |
28 Sep 1993 - |
|
H 5 |
H |
OR 5 |
|
|
Nests collected |
18 |
17 |
5 |
|
Total no. eggs |
2470 |
1763 |
389 |
|
Mean clutch size |
137 |
104 |
78 |
|
% hatched |
34 % |
66.7 % |
-- 6 |
|
No. released |
790 |
1106 |
-- |
|
% released |
32 % |
63 % |
-- |
|
Nests poached/ |
-- |
6 |
1 |
|
1 |
Leatherbacks (L) and "non-leatherbacks" (non-L) nested, the latter probably olive ridleys |
|
2 |
The hatchery was inadequately protected and nests were stolen (1992-93 only) |
|
3 |
Some hatchlings were given to a Fisheries Station for research (1992-93 only) |
|
4 |
It was not always possible to determine whether the eggs had been stolen (poached), or eggs had not been laid ("false crawl", fc) |
|
5 |
Hawksbills (H) and Olive Ridleys (OR) nested |
|
6 |
Several nests had not hatched when the authors left the site |
|
7 |
On several occasions, staff and boats were unavailable to take eggs to the hatchery, so they were buried elsewhere and their fate is unknown |
Throughout the project there was continued egg loss due to theft by fishermen and Sea Gypsies. Low hatching success was a particular problem at Surin Island because remoteness of the nesting beaches made rapid collection of eggs difficult. Staff motivation was high, but at times they were unable to devote sufficient time to the project due to other duties. This resulted in patchy data recording. Despite problems, progress has been made both in these parks and elsewhere in Thailand. The educational material we prepared was widely distributed and well received. The training course was a success and problems of head-starting (inadequate facilities, untrained staff, disease, poor diet, uncertain conservation benefits) were acknowledged. There is now a commitment to stop this practice in the parks. Considerable financial help was recently allocated to the project by the Canada Fund to finance the purchase of equipment.
It is hoped that well-managed sea turtle conservation projects will continue and expand in the future. These small initiatives are very important because of the extremely vulnerable status of sea turtles in Thailand. Beach protection has belatedly been undertaken, but little has been done to protect the adult populations at sea.
Settle, S., E. Stuart and M. Cartin. 1994. Sea turtle conservation seminar and training course, Thailand. Marine Turtle Newsletter 66:32-33.