My Leatherback Adventure: Day 1

Previously... Prologue

I arrived in Manokwari on June 24, after flying overnight on 2 planes with transits in Jakarta and Makassar and eventually landing in Manokwari, the former capital of West Papua.  Heri, a twenty-ish cheerful and friendly looking young man who happened to be one of the crew members of the project met us at the airport and after a 10 minute drive we were at the jetty where Natlie, another crew member was busy arranging the supplies on the boat. From Manokwari, it was a nine-hour boat ride to Jamursba Medi.

Rendani Airport, Manokwari

Overweight! Overweight! Natlie trying to figure out how to load our stuff.  :)

This is what the boat we'd be sitting in looks like.  Nicknamed the spider by Manjula.

At the fish market.  Fresh yellow-fin tuna.

About the only thing I dreaded about the entire trip were 2 things; the 9-hr boat ride and the long walks.  We are not talking walks to the market but walking the entire span of 18 – 20 kms of beach patrolling at nights and so on.  This makes the patrols on Chagar Hutang seem like a simple walk to the toilet.  And considering that I only walk a combined total of about 5 – 10 kms in an entire year, you can imagine my concern.

Anyway, it was an uneventful day filled with lots of snoozing on the boat.  After capturing some of the scenes, I figured I’d catch up on sleep.  Besides, it was about the only thing you could do and it would help kill time.  The 9-hour boat ride gave me a sense of how big the island of Papua really was.  And perhaps it is also this fact that has managed to reduce the amount of development these isolated beaches received therefore making it still a haven to wildlife.  It wasn’t really an open sea boat ride and we were always right by the coast and one thing that I found interesting is once we got out of Cenderawasih Bay, you see very little development on the island.  It’s jungle cover all the way to the beach.  It’s a very big contrast from places like Japan which has golf courses visible from air as far as the eye can see and even Malaysia where you see beach side resorts once you get close to land. 

The boat ride didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would be as it was wide enough for two to lie down side by side and it was also long.  And as soon as we got out of the bay, the boatmen put up a makeshift cabin out of specially made 90-degree angled wooden supports and a tarp.

Shelter from the elements...

Village along Cenderawasih Bay.

This is the life, man…  Natlie, one of the project crew who manages all the logistics served lunch which was simple but delicious.  Rice with fried fish and curry chicken that reminded me of rendang.  Heri on the other hand, was sitting at the bow and having long conversations on his cellphone presumably with his other half.  There I was…  Sitting on a boat that was speeding towards our destination having a hearty meal and all my stresses started flowing away.

Lunch!

This is what Heri was doing for pretty much the first 30 - 45 mins...

This... Is Papua!!!

Toward the setting sun...

We arrived at the Batu Rumah base station late in the evening… around 5pm and it was an interesting experience being in a boat all day watching the sun rise and eventually set but this is it…  we were here!  As we turned the bend, Heri pointed out a rock that stood about 10, maybe 20 meters off the beach.  This rock was called Batu Rumah and it is what has given this beach its name.

We were greeted by Ricky, the local project manager, who also happened to be doing his PhD in Alabama and was probably in his early forties.  There were another 6 – 7 guys in their early twenties.  All graduates from UNIPA’s marine program, with Vidzond being the odd one out as he was fairer than the rest… hmmm… sounds like a line out of Snow White.  Anyway, while most of the crew were from Papua, Vidzond hailed from Moluccas…  or Maluku.  Which explained his unique features.  Like Heri, everyone was friendly and most of them had already met Manjula the year before but I guess I stuck out like a sore thumb.  It was like being in Nigeria once again, walking into a lecture hall filled with Nigerian lawyers.  Ricky later said that they were all surprised that an Ongkor (not sure how that’s spelt but it basically means a chinese business man from the city) would take a trip out here to this remote area and be doing the kinda things they’d be doing there.

But anyway, we quickly hauled off the luggage, first time I actually travelled with 30kgs of camping equipment, clothes and books (which I never even touched throughout the trip) and as it was starting to get dark, Manjula and I were led to a clearing near the base station and were told that we could set up our tents there.  It looked comfortable enough and clean as the crew had already tidied up the area.  The crew’s tents were about 30 metres away.  We were later informed that the area Manjula and I were given had ants which was why they setup their tents elsewhere…  Really thoughtful, guys.  Thanks!

Anyway, after tidying up and getting settled in, we had dinner and exchanged introductions.  Wooo hooo…  I was on the island of Papua!!!

My home for the week...

Sunset at Batu Rumah...

My Leatherback Adventure: Prologue

After years of longing to see the Leatherback Turtle, my dream came true in the middle of this year, thanks to Prof. Chan and Dr. Manjula.  It was actually one of my New Year 2012 resolutions so there you have it, I do work on my resolutions.  :)

My 10-day trip to Jamursba Medi (JM), a beach on Irian Jaya was also made more interesting in that I have always felt that Papua New Guinea had this mysterious, frontier feel about it.  And whenever it is mentioned, my mind would start conjuring images of cannibals with tusks embedded in their noses doing war dances as they cook you over a pot; a product of my over-active imagination and too much fiction literature.  The fact that the location was a 9-hour boat ride away added to the excitement.  This is as remote as it would get.  No access road.  No electricity (except via solar panels & generators).  No chalets or resorts.  I’d be camping!

The JM project was a collaborative effort between the State University of Papua (UNIPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and it was thru Prof. Chan’s acquaintance Dr. Tiwari of the NOAA that I would finally get the experience of a lifetime.   The JM project spans the 21kms long Jamursba Medi beach and another beach 30kms east of JM called Wermon.  And guess what, there are estuarine crocodiles in Wermon (Not that I saw any although I did go looking...).  These are the really mean-looking, big ass ones that you see the late Steve Irwin wrestling with.  It’s like I’m living a naturalist’s life.  

Unlike the project in Chagar Hutang on Redang Island, this was on a bigger scale, partly due to the stakes involved and also the size of the area.  The challenges faced were also different.

The Bird's Head Peninsula.  Jamursba Medi is located between the major cities of Manokwari and Sorong.

Jamursba Medi is a beach located along the north coast of the Birds head peninsula in Papua and includes 3 beaches with a total length of 21 kms.  It is flanked by 2 capes, the Jamursba cape and the Medi cape, Hence the name.  There are villages (Saobeba on the Jamursba cape and Warmedi at the other) at both capes but both are separated from the nesting beach by rocky outcrops.  The Jamursba Medi beach is divided into 3 sub-beaches; Wembrak which is at the far west followed by Batu Rumah in the middle and Warmamedi in the east.  In addition, there is a separate beach called Wermon, located 30kms away from Batu Rumah.

Next... Day 1: The Journey to Jamursba Medi

Say "No" To Turtle Egg Consumption Is Now Online

The Say "NO" To Turtle Eggs Consumption is now online so it is now even easier for you to stand up and tell everyone that consuming turtle eggs is NOT cool.

The petition was started some months back using paper forms but to make it more convenient for everyone to sign the form, the Turtle Research & Rehabilitation Group (Pelf.. I got it right this time... :-D keh keh keh) has ported the petition online. As such, all you need to do is send the link to all your friends, colleagues, masters, slaves, employers, employees... everyone. If you have signed the earlier one, do drop by this link and sign it again as it has been revised to include an appeal to the Malaysian Department of Fisheries and the Terengganu State Government to ban the collection, sale and consumption of turtle eggs.

Although the collection of turtle eggs has been banned in some parts of the country, the sale is not and it never will be as long as there is demand. And the demand is not just from local villagers as tourists and dignitaries also want to have a taste due to myths surrounding the consumption of turtle eggs.

Why does it matter? Most of us feel that it's too little and we doubt the change it would make but it was just a century ago that African Americans were considered slaves but today, there is a possibility that the next American president will be an African American so nothing is impossible and as the saying goes, a little bit each day will go a long way so spread the word and do your part. These gentle creatures are a sight to behold. Ask anyone who has seen them and they will agree with me. Turtles are already in danger from the moment the eggs are deposited... Fire ants, crabs, birds, fishes, monitor lizards and many more. They do not need the ultimate predator preying on them as well.

Why eat turtle eggs? No reason whatsoever!! There is no value from eating turtle eggs. The myth that turtle eggs are an aphrodisiac (something that arouses/ intensifies sexual desire) is just that... A myth!! To drive one of the oldest creatures on this planet to the brink of extinction is too high a price just to prove this point. Studies have determined that turtle eggs are not an aphrodisiac... In fact, turtle eggs contain much higher levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) than a chicken egg. So consumption of turtle egges will have the opposite effect. Why? Well... an erection is caused by the rush of blood into your penis and cholesterol clogs up those beautiful little arteries and veins of yours thus reducing the flow of blood... So forget virility cos' it's flaccidity that you'll be faced with!!

So what can you do? Tell your friends about the campaign and head on over to The Say "No" To Turtle Egg Online Petition and sign the petition. You can download the icon at the bottom of this post (or what the heck... go create a nice icon of your own) and put a link on your Website/ blog or facebook or friendster and tell everyone that consuming turtle eggs is uncool. We can all make a difference.

Thought Bubbles Cyberspotted

Keh Keh... Well.. technically, I am piggy-backing off the Turtle Research & Rehabilitation Group (TRRG) Web Site but oh well, it's still my few lines of fame :-) Certainly brings back early memories when I wrote in to the Star to write about the horrible conditions of the enclosures & cages in the Taiping Zoo. That's as far as I ventured into activism. Heh Heh...

I was in Form 4 (that would be back in 1990) and I actually written the letter and got all my classmates and friends to sign the letter. I actually signed the letter as A.L.F. which is supposed to be the acronym for Animal Liberation Front... Well.. that and ALF was one of my favourite comedies at the time. If you haven't watched it, it's about this cuddly Alien that crashes into Earth and loves eating cats... Yumm Yumm... An alien after my own heart!!

I do not know if that reached the intended audience but since then conditions in the Taiping Zoo has improved exponentially and it now has a night safari as well. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I were to say that it is better than Zoo Negara but then again, that's my opinion... So regardless if it had any impact, I guess I will just continue believing I have made a difference... :-) That and the hundreds of turtle hatchlings that have crawled to sea... Hope I have made up enough karma points to wipe out my sins... :-D

Chagar Hutang 2008

At long last... gonna squeeze in some time to write about my trip to Chagar Hutang (CH). The trip was pretty much the same as in the past. The usual briefing at the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) campus where we would meet the other volunteers as well. I was supposed to meet Fong (last year’s RA) but the timing of my flight was out and she had to leave for Setiu on her other project. It was however pleasant to meet Karen again (a vet student whom I met during last year’s trip to CH). Anyway, we arrived kinda’ in the midst of the briefing so a tip here for volunteers would be to take the Air Asia flight which leaves at 7 am instead of the MAS flight which leaves at 9 am. Anyway, blah blah blah.. and we were then off to Merang after signing our disclaimer… so if anything happens to us in CH, UMT is covered… :-)

We arrived at Laguna jetty after 1 pm and Adie soon greeted us on Si Penyu (the speedboat belonging to the project). After loading the boat, we were on our way… Woo Hooooo…

The whole week was pretty much uneventful except for the stormy rains almost every night except on Friday and we had a sort of record landing and nesting as well, a total of 56 landings and 33 nestings thus ending up in 2^nd place so far (lost out by 1 nest). That was pretty much my personal record as well. On top of that there were at least 5 new nesting green turtles (nesting for the first time) and there were 2 hawksbill turtles… (of which I saw one) YES... a dream fulfilled!!

Activities throughout the week was pretty much the same except that on Wednesday there was a bunch of school kids from all over Malaysia who visited the island as part of an event organized by the Co-Curriculum Centre in an effort to create awareness & appreciation for marine life and as we were short-handed, I was given the honour of giving the briefing to the kids in the gallery. Mann was briefing on the beach patrol and other conservation work whereas Lea (the Research Assistant) would be briefing the participants on the efforts of the Conservation Program.


During the river hike, we also completed a mission… To place signboards of interesting spots… The river hike is pretty much an unguided one so I was thinking that it would be good to have the signboards in place so volunteers would know what to look for.
The turtle rock hike had to be postponed till Thursday as certain events kinda’ threw the original schedule out. In addition, the sea conditions were quite bad since Monday so snorkeling at other spots (e.g. Marine Park, Pulau Lima) also had to be canceled. We still had fun snorkeling off the beach.
This year, nests were affected quite badly by fire ants. There wasn’t that much monitor lizards lurking around (as I understand the staffs had gone on a lizard purging activity recently) but we were relocating nests on an average of 2 -3 nests a day due to fire ants attack. And it wasn’t a pretty sight. There was a nest that was attacked and though we managed to recover the remaining eggs and some of the hatchlings most of the hatchlings didn’t survive probably due to the injuries from the ant bites.
Food-wise, it was as great as ever. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that food is better than at the resorts. Even Bao Yi who doesn’t normally go for Malay food is now a believer!!
All in all, no regrets coming here again... now planning for the next trip... to French Guyana for Leatherback Turtles... Woo Hoooooo..... more like a dream... :-) Welll... enjoy the following pictorial account... and there are many more at my multiply album.

We saw turtles.... There were green turtle hatchlings...
And there were hawksbill hatchlings...

We saw the Green Turtle Mommy...

And we saw the Hawksbill mommy (My first time too)
We ate Bihun Goreng Chagar Hutang...

We had Ayam Masak Merah

And the Ayam Masak Tomato was outta this world...
However, some of us were still hungry...
We saw butterflies


We even had our Mr Chagar Hutang competition... Adie Won!! Siooottt!!!
We hiked up the river...

And we hiked up Turtle Rock...


We saw the sun rise...

And we saw the sun set...

Of course, we worked...


But we also lazed...

We posed...

We also snorkeled...

We lost a few...

But we also saved a lot...

Lets all make a difference... Pledge and say "No!!" to turtle eggs by sending an email to turtle@umt.edu.my with the message “I pledge NOT to eat turtle or terrapin eggs for the rest of my life” together with your full name and MyKad number (needed for authentification).