Phuket | She dug her nest on a deserted beach in southern Thailand, laid a hundred whitish eggs before covering them with sand and plunging back into the waters of the Andaman Sea.
More sea turtles have been nesting in the kingdom since the pandemic, and as the nesting season kicks off, scientists are struggling to preserve these endangered species.
The green turtle, spotted on the islet of Koh Maiton near Phuket (south), will not come back to see its eggs. They will hatch in about two months and the babies will slide out to sea, guided by the moonlight. Their chances of survival are very low: on the order of one hatched egg in 1,000 becomes an adult turtle.
Lute, green, nested, olive, loggerhead: five species live in the warm waters that bathe Thailand.
“Their nesting has improved over the past two years thanks to the absence of tourists, noise and light pollution,” Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong, director of the Phuket Marine Biology Center, told AFP.
The seaside resort welcomed millions of visitors before the crisis, causing serious nuisances such as the concreting of the coasts or the overabundance of speedboats.
Then, for months, everything stopped, allowing nature to take back its rights here and there.
Between October 2020 and February 2021, 18 nests of leatherback turtles, the largest species of sea turtle, 400 kilograms as an adult, were found in Phuket. “We had never seen such a number for 20 years,” enthuses Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong.
An olive ridley nest has also been spotted, the first in 20 years.
In India, the Philippines, the United States, a similar phenomenon is observed.
No long-term impact
But, as Thailand begins to timidly reopen its doors to tourism, scientists are tempering their optimism.
“The pandemic may offer sea turtles a healthy break,” notes Thon Thamrongnawasawat of Kasetsart University in Bangkok.
But, these animals have a great longevity, up to 100 years for some species. “Without an effective policy to protect them, we would not expect the Covid crisis to have a real long-term impact.”
In Thailand, as in many countries, their future is threatened by global warming which harms coral reefs and impacts the distribution of the sexes: the hotter the nest, the more females it will see hatch, which risks upsetting the balance. populations.
Marine litter remains the leading cause of illness and death.
“In 56% of cases, the turtles that are brought to us have swallowed it or found themselves trapped in it”, explains Dr Patcharaporn Kaewong of the Phuket Marine Biology Center.
In the center, 58 are currently treated. Some must be operated on, others amputated and fitted with prostheses before being released into the sea.
Severe legislation
Scientists and local authorities are ready for the nesting season which runs until February.
As soon as a nest is spotted, agents intervene. If the turtle has laid eggs too close to the water, endangering the eggs, they move it to a safe place.
Otherwise, the nests are secured with bamboo fences and patrols are organized.
“After hatching, we take care of weak turtles until they are strong enough to go to the sea,” says Patcharaporn Kaewong. The team also installs cameras near the nests to educate the locals.
Eating eggs was a common practice in Phuket until a few decades ago.
Collection has been banned since 1982 and the kingdom has continued to toughen legislation. Illegally possessing or selling leatherback turtle eggs is now punishable by three to fifteen years in prison and a fine of $ 10 to $ 50,000.
NGOs also financially reward locals who report a nest.
Satellite system, microchip: conservation specialists rely on new technologies to observe these animals.
“Thanks to the tracing, we observed that they could migrate much further than we thought,” explains Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong. To northern Australia, thousands of kilometers from Phuket.