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By Stella A. Estremera
The vehicle traffic at the highway, that's like three to four vehicles at one time, is more than the traffic you'll ever encounter once you turn right into this sleepy town, past its welcome arch, on to the municipio and further on to the pier. In fact, this two-lane concrete road with a concrete open canal is already the center of activity in this part of the world.
A town called Lupon in Davao Oriental. A town of mostly farmers and fishermen.
In the two days I've visited the town, I've passed through only this road, in and out. The second visit actually came as a result of the first. The first being by the invitation of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources 11 (Bfar 11) to visit their fish aggregating device off Lupon's coast where three dolphins frequent.
With my volunteer diver team from the Aquamarine Protection and Preservation Alliance Inc. (Appa), we loaded up our gears and went off to see Lupon (and the dolphins).
It turned out that the dolphins are but incidental to what is really going on in Lupon. Because in this sleepy town beats a people's love for their seas.
"Meron na kaming na-identify na turtle sanctuary dito," Grace Guinez, the secretary of the municipal fisheries and aquatic resources management council and chair of the committee on rehabilitation and conservation, told Sun.Star Davao during that first visit last month.
She wanted to explore the possibility of linking up with the more organized Task Force Pawikan Davao (TFPD) and be briefed on what must be done in declaring a turtle nesting site sanctuary.
The possibility came sooner than expected as Sunday last week a turtle's nest was found by some residents and it was by the beach very near the waters. What must be done?
Through the network of volunteers TFPD was contacted and instructions were given, and then the visit last Thursday.
The TFPD team was accompanied by Ms. Guinez and Dingdong Quiñonez, the son of Lupon Mayor Arfran Quiñonez who was in Manila then. The turtle nest, which has already been transferred to higher ground by then, is in sitio Kimsan, Barangay Ilangan, a small "punta" on the western side of Lupon inhabited by just over 20 families.
The nesting site is in an isolated area fringed with the thorny Aroma bushes just before the small community.
Ronnie Morales, 11, the boy who saw the nest said he was walking on the beach at around 5:30 a.m. when he saw the turtle on its way to the water's edge; done nesting.
From how Ronnie described it, the nester could be the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochlys imbricata), but this will only be confirmed once the hatchlings emerge.
The residents were gathered to a pulong-pulong where the importance of taking care of their waters, letting the turtles nest on without disturbing them was discussed.
It was a motley group of children, old folk, mothers, and some men. After all it was afternoon and most male folk are still out fishing. Since it's creation in 2003, the TFPD has taken every opportunity to spread the word about conservation best if children are there to. At sitio Kimsan, a group of children listened on, proudly claiming they themselves have already seen turtles while out at sea with their fathers.
Turtles it seems have been part of the fishermen's existence. One fisherman recalls having seen a very big one with a leathery back. "Dugay na 'to, nag-edad pa ko ug disisyete niato," the fisherman said. He's now in his middle 30s.
Smaller ones are likewise seen. Even hatchlings. One such hatchling was even turned over to the MFARMC. Its carapace is now almost six inches long. MFARMC officials say they usually release the matchbox-sized hatchlings turned over to them after they grow this to a foot size. Obviously, there are still misconceptions on how caring for the marine turtles should be done. Marine turtles, whether hatchlings or grown ones should be immediately released to the wild.
More so the hatchlings because they have to learn on their own how to survive. Rearing them even for a month will disturb if not totally destroy its survival learning curve learned by turtles even before man came to this world. But, the good intention of the Lupon residents to care for these marine creatures is apparent.
At one time a few years back, another fisherman relates that a nest was dug up by some men who were not from their village.
"Wala pa ko nakabalo nga itlog 'to sa pawikan," he said. But he got four of these eggs, buried this again in the sand, and saw hatchlings emerge around two months later. The residents in sitio Kimsan have no history of slaughtering turtles or of gathering turtle eggs.
The small group gathered attests that sightings of turtles have become more frequent since illegal fishing methods have been banned and a bounty for dead illegal fishers was raised by Mayor Quiñonez.
They are excited too with the more bountiful harvest they are now getting from the sea and the sight of more creatures they have not seen for a long time when illegal and commercial fishers pillaged their waters.
With the briefing given by the TFPD led by Davao City Councilor Leonardo R. Avila III, the Lupon MFARMC intends to work for an official declaration of a portion of sitio Kimsan as a turtle nesting site and train their people on monitoring turtle nesting as well as rescuing doomed nests, or those located in unsafe areas like those laid too close to the sea.
In the meantime, the countdown for the next nesting has started. A female marine turtle nests from three to six times in one nesting season in two-week intervals. After the nesting cycle ends, it will be two to four years later that the same nester will lay its eggs again.
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