There was a strange gathering on Bali’s famous Kuta Beach last Wednesday morning as a crowd of flip flopped tourists and local residents gathered in the hot sun and with the backdrop of big surfing waves released 12 Green Chelonia mydas and Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata Turtles back into their watery home to be free once again to wander the oceans.
These 12 lucky turtles were rescued by police from unsavory types conducting illegal trade in these wonderful friendly creatures. The police originally seized and confiscated 17 Turtles in March, 15 Green and 2 Hawksbill. Sadly one of the Turtles died and 4 were to be kept in the Turtle breeding center to be used as evidence in the trial of the illegal traders.
These poor Turtles were thought to have been captured against their will in the Sumbawa region which is a haven for Green Turtles and it is suspected that the unfortunate Turtles were captured to be used in religious ceremonies and god forbid Turtle Soup !!
The head of the Denpasar Water Police said that the police would charge these thugs under article 21 of Law No.5/1990 on the conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystems. The suspects could face a hefty 5 year jail sentence and US$8740 fine……victory for the Turtles !! Sea Turtles are heavily protected and listed under appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (C.I.T.E.S) this protection means that any trade of specimens captured from the wild is illegal in Indonesia.
We have to make a big shout out to Mr. I Gusti Ngurah Tresna AKA Mr. Turtle !! Mr. Turtle manages the Turtle hatching site at Kuta beach and also acts as the head of the Kuta security task force protecting turtles from poaching and trading, without the help of Mr.Turtle the illegal trading would continue unabated and the traders need to now know that Mr Turtle is fully on their case….so watch out !!