Anda, Bohol: Home of birthing sea turtles

ANDA, BOHOL ,Philippines  – This easternmost cape town is not only rich in natural resources—ranging from unspoiled kilometric white sand beaches with crystal clear seawater to high grade raw manganese ores and scuba dive sites—but also the home of birthing hawksbill, and endangered sea turtle.

Crescensio “Insong” Amora, caretaker of the egg-laying turtles’ sanctuary and former fishermen’s organization head, said that for years now they have been closely watching the site, about a kilometer long white sand of barangay Bacong because they feel the need and the importance of conservation.

He has been worried however because neither any government agency nor the municipal government, except the barangay, is assisting them in this environmental efforts for the next generation.

Tourism here has not been fully harnessed by officials here that could have been beneficial to the local residents and fishermen. Many motor bancas from other places have been coming here for diving and sight-seeing. Its dive sites, not far from the shoreline, are loaded with wonderful marine resources and species not seen anywhere else in the province.

Amora can vouch for this situation because he has been fishing and diving in this area since his boyhood days. But what happened?

He said that for many years this white sand strip has been frequented by sea turtles, mostly hawksbill to lay eggs, about twice a year, and leave behind the eggs to hatch on their own.

Even his father, when still alive, used to tell him to protect the turtles otherwise he might not see them again. He said that upon learning this he observed that the turtles kept on coming back to lay eggs because he learned that it is but natural for them to return to the place where they were born.

This motivated him and the local fisherfolk to continue what his father has started, although initially it was an uphill battle. Now, he is worried of the situation because there are still unscrupulous persons, not residents here, who are making a killing of the turtle eggs for food and trade purposes.

Amora and his men used to put markers where the turtle laid eggs, but it would be easy for predators to locate the eggs and dug them up. So when the turtles lay eggs, markers are no longer placed on the site where the eggs are hid. After more than 60 days, the eggs hatched and then emerge crawling the little turtles out of the sand.

The sanctuary also serves as their shelter until they are grown enough to be released out to the sea. Only about ten percent survive after they are hatched and directly swim to the water, he said. Right now, the sanctuary facility hosts to seven small ones.

Egg-laying turtles can be very attractive to the tourism industry because they do it regularly as long as security and conservation measures are in place, Amora said.

The entire white sand shoreline is bounded only with some cliffs and big rock dividing them and stretching along at least five barangays of this town. The awareness drive should be continued among the local folk and visitors to protect the sea trutles, he said.

Amora said that, unknown perhaps to many, the barangay is maintaining over the years a small and makeshift turtle sanctuary made of light materials erected near the shoreline, about 4 meters by 6 meters in size, just to keep the newly hatched turtles from being harmed by predators including humans.

His efforts and those of the barangay have paid off because he sees regularly the turtles while fishing in what he called the turtle cave because of abundance of them.

Amora said that if given the needed assistance, financially or in kind, this part of the town could be unique place for tourists.

This sanctuary was made possible by the generosity of German national Frankee Mirko, who is married to an Andahanon. The Mirko couple, who is residing nearby donated the materials and the sanctuary management is taken care of the barangay, he said.