‘I thought I was in front of a dinosaur’

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Seeing turtles is nothing unusual for Ensign John Duruin, spokesman of the Naval Forces Southern Luzon Command (Navforsol). But not this big.

“While we were approaching her in the dark, all we saw clearly was her big head that resembles that of an extinct dinosaur. We were really afraid because that was the first time we saw a head of a turtle that is bigger than a human head,” Duruin recalled.

He was referring to the leatherback turtle (Deomchelys coriacea), measuring two meters long and one meter wide and weighing about 250 to 300 kilograms, that found its way to the coast of Barangay Rawis here to lay 105 eggs on the night of July 14.

Duruin, who hails from Zamboanga, said seeing turtles is so common to him, as he was first assigned in Mindanao where the Navy has marine sanctuaries where turtle eggs are being kept safe.

“But this is the first time that I saw and touched such a big turtle whose head is much bigger than mine. What flashed in my mind at that time was that I was in front of a dinosaur,” he said.

“It was a mixed feeling of fear and excitement. I never expected that I will be part of that rare close encounter with what is considered the largest turtle species in the world,” he said.

Duruin said he was also amazed at the rare turtle’s instinct to save its eggs from possible human harm, as it quickly covered the eggs with sand when residents got near the nesting site.

Duruin said they failed to put a tag on the turtle, as everyone agreed to immediately release it into the sea to keep it safe.

“All of us agreed that the mother turtle had to be immediately sent back to the sea. We were apprehensive that keeping her longer out of water might have a harmful effect to her life. We just let her swam back without a tag,” he said.

Last Friday afternoon, a team of experts of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources transferred the 105 turtle eggs to the Navforsol compound.

“We are already preparing everything needed for the return of the mother turtle which is expected on July 22, or any day after that,” Duruin said.

Myrna Baylon, wildlife section chief of the Protected Areas Wildlife Coastal Zone Management Services, said the leatherback, the largest turtle species, is considered endangered. It is commonly found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

The leatherback is the only sea turtle that does not have a hard, bony shell. Its shell or carapace is about 1.5 inches thick and consists of leathery, oil-saturated connective tissues. – With Celso Amo