Five Giant Turtles Lay Their Eggs On Raja Ampat's Warebar Beach

SORONG - Five leatherback turtles or the so-called giant turtles landed and laid their eggs on Warebar Beach, Yenbekaki Village, Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua.

The head of the Yenbekaki Village Turtle Conservation Activist Group, Yusuf Mayor, said that from May to June 2021 as many as five leatherback turtles landed and laid eggs at Warebar Beach, Yenbekaki Village, Raja Ampat Regency.

He said the five giant turtle nests were being guarded by the community of the Yenbekaki Village Turtle Conservation Activist Group to avoid attacks by predators such as monitor lizards, snakes, wild boars, wild dogs and other animals.

According to him, egg nests are also protected from human predators, especially turtle hunters and their eggs to be traded for personal gain.

He explained that the community will guard the nests of the turtle eggs until they hatch into hatchlings and then the hatchlings are kept in captivity for one week before being released into the sea.

"The turtle hatchlings are captively carried out so that the shells of the hatchlings are really strong to avoid predators when they are released into the sea," he said, quoted by Antara, Sunday, June 6.

The leatherback turtle eggs in the five nests have not yet hatched. If it hatches, it is estimated that there will be around 500 more hatchlings because one leatherback turtle can lay 90-125 eggs.