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GEORGE TOWN, Malaysia
Mutiara Kerachut, a 124kg green turtle, will help biologists learn more about her species.
She was released into the sea at Pantai Kerachut off the Penang National Park with a satellite transmitter attached to her shell.
State Tourism Development and Environment Committee chairman Teng Chang Yeow did the honours at 6.20pm yesterday.
Penang Fisheries Department director Mohd Najib Ramli said this is the first time a transmitter has been attached to a turtle from here.
"We hope to collect valuable information, such as migration patterns, growth and propagation of the turtles. This is the first time we are doing this," he said at a two-day Turtle Conservation Camp. Seventy people, including the media and students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tun Hussein Onn, Seberang Jaya, attended.
Mohd Najib said the department has a budget of RM18,400 a year to maintain the transmitter. The department has bought two satellite transmitters from New Zealand. The satellite services are rented from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States, through their Argos earth base in France.
Along with Mutiara Kerachut, 147 baby green turtles were also released into the sea.
Mohd Najib said generally two types of turtles land on the beaches near the park, particularly on Pantai Kerachut, Pantai Teluk Kampi and Pantai Teluk Ketapang — the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea).
He added that from 1995 to last year, 18,761 baby green turtles and 315 baby Olive Ridleys were released into the sea.
Teng said RM695,000 had been allocated for turtle conservation in Penang under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. This is in addition to RM120,000 a year the state government budgets.
He said the ongoing upgrading of the national park, gazetted in 2004, should be completed by the middle of this year.
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