| FRAGILE HABITAT OF GREEN TURTLE HAWKS BAY KARACHI |
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| After living on land for over 80 million of years, various reptiles in competition adopted an aquatic life dominated the Mesozois Seas as swimming predators. But, as air-breathing reptiles, they had to surface to fill their lungs, which with many features of sight, smell, and respiration, had adapted to a marine environment. In marine reptiles, the bones of walking limbs and feet develop into a verity of paddles shapes, for use as underwater oars. Some like turtles may have hauled themselves on to land to lay eggs (underwater, the embryos would suffocate otherwise) |
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| Between August and January., Hawks-Bay and other beaches throughout the cost of Pakistan up to Gawatar-Bay into Iran become breeding grounds for large number of Turtles. It was a time when thousands of Turtles may crawl up Hawks-Bay beach every night during the breeding season. Although access to Hawaksbay is not restricted, still there would not be much room between Turtles anyway; even they have been known to dig up existing nests to lay their own eggs on this crowded beach. |
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| But that’s no more, the human invasion on these beaches has driven them away in most cases they can’t even make it to the land, the atrocious Korean trawler trawling in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) licensed and control by Islamabad, destroying our fishing ground, snatching livelihood of the fisherman, who have been living on these shores of the Sindh and Blochistan even before the partition of Sub-continent for many centuries, now facing starvation. |
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| The Islamabad policies are designed in such a way that our fisher man are getting poorer and poorer day by day and the rich and famous families of north are getting richer on the cost of poor fisherman of Sindh and Blochistan. Isn’t that surprising that during a seminar in Karachi University a guest speaker from Islamabad proudly mentioned that today’s the biggest and richest fisher man is from Mianwalli (Punjab) Those licensed holder (foreign fishing trawler) knowing very well that they are above the law and have caused havoc during the last few decades. |
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| By using illegal fishing net they have not only killed our fishes but also destroyed the babies, eggs and fishing habitats, in order to feed their hungry fish-processing floating factories at EE Z. The caned the good fish and throwaway the unwanted catch in to the sea causing ecological disaster. While fishing they have mercilessly killed thousands of Dolphin, Turtles, and Sea Snakes. During fishing they bulldoze and Destroyed, hundred and thousands squire Kilometer of seabed. Which include coral reefs, gorgonians gardens, in result the effect are devastating on our biodiversity? |
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| Last week alone I saw three decomposed bodies of dead green turtles (One Male and two Females) within a area of 2KM on Clifton beach between (New police post and DHA Encroachments wall) As you know the turtles are air breathing reptile when caught-up in the fishing net unable to surface for breathing and drown. Later their decomposed bodies washed a shore. |
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| There are seven types of sea turtles. |
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| The most often seen in this area are the green Turtle that can weigh over 170 Kg (375 lbs) and have a shell 125cm (4ft) in length. Unfortunately, green Turtle have long been known as good to eat, Baby green turtle soap had been favorites soap for the Queen of England, no wonder their numbers were decimating in the last century. (Only Last week a container load of Turtle meat on its way to lucrative market was caught) Instead they should be protected in the marine park. |
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| The Loggerhead Turtle is also large its shell can be 110 centimeters (3.5 ft) in length-while the hawksbill Turtle is somewhat smaller. |
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| The hawksbill turtle favors warmer tropical waters, while the loggerhead turtle primarily nests in temperate regions. Sadly, the world’s largest turtle, the leatherback, is quite rare and, although widespread, it is an endangered species. Some have been found with shells 179 cm (5.5 ft) long. |
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| It has been reported that the internationally endangered Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and critically endangered Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) frequently use Astolla Island (A Island near Pasni in Blochistan) for nesting purposes. This is the only site along the 1,000-km Pakistan coast where sightings of Hawksbill turtles have allegedly occurred. |
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| LAYING EGGS |
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| Watching female turtle laying eggs could be a long interesting and exciting experience. Turtles start coming up the beach at sunset, like invading army 100’s of mama turtles crawling up the sandy beach throughout the night for laying eggs, often the last return to the water only after sunrise. Each laboriously hauls her vast bulk up the beach slope and into the fringing vegetation. She then uses her flippers to clear a large crater into which she dug-up egg chamber cylindrical shape (20X60 cm in diameter) in which she lays 150 to 200 soft plastic like round balls about the size and appearance of ping-pong balls. She start laying one egg at a time keep covering up with the jelly, then lays two at time the further it can be three eggs at a time during all this processes she keep covering them with jelly like stuff to protect them against the insects, once she finished she then start covering them with the help of hinds flappers. The soft force applied by the hind flappers mixing sand and the jelly produce during the processes, and gently wrapping the eggs in the shape of a tomb. |
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| Than, she cover up the tomb with the sand and during this processes she actually swim under sand approximately one meter below the surface After moving one meter from the chamber she actually start turning at a right angle with using a combination of 3 to13 ratio of her flippers further move to another meter than she climb up and take a long walk on the opposite direction of the sea water leaving zigzag track making confusing for human being to get to her private chamber, to avoid steeling her eggs. Now the nest has been secured to her satisfaction, she begins the slow haul back to the water. She will repeat this process several times during the season. |
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| Every night about 200 t0 300 Mama Turtles walk-up the beach, out of 50% of them are normally scared away by the human interruption. |
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| 25% could not find a place to dig up the pit for laying eggs because during the last 50 + years a large number of luxurious beach huts / Bungalows have been built on the Egg-laying ground of turtles, leaving no room for turtles to lay eggs. Still some manages to dig under the fences and lay eggs in the courtyard of the luxury beach-huts. In the processes of digging into the courtyards they some time gets injured very badly. But, there is no body to help them to get back in to the sea. As the time passing by a complete concrete wall of beach huts had been built, (From Kaka-Pir till Army lodge/Coast Guard) either belongs to high ranking official’s, Rich & Famous of Islamabad or untouchable privileged Class. The KPT being the owner of the land controlled by Islamabad helplessly or miserably watching… |
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| HATCHLING |
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| Between October to January, turtle hatchlings can be seen on their way across the beach to their first swim. This is a more thrilling sight than the egg-laying process. After the sun has set on a moonlit night, the sand will suddenly erupt as tiny turtles; will with their soft, fuzzy shells, simultaneously burst out of the nest. Using the reflection of the moon on water as their beacon, they scamper down the sand and paddle off. However, many predators also known these timetable-many hatchlings never make it to the water. It is estimated that only a few percent reach adulthood. |
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