THE STATUS OF MARINE TURTLE POPULATION S

IN THE VICINITY OF PANGKOR ISLAND IN THE STATE OF PERA K

AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THEIR MANAGEMEN T

by

JEANNE A . MORTIMER, Ph .D .

Consultant, Marine Turtle Conservatio n

WWF Malaysi a

Produced unde r
WWF Project 386 8

July 199 0

WWF MALAYSI A
P .O . BOX 1076 9
50724 KUALA LUMPU R
Tel : 03-2552945 / Telex : MA 30423 / Telefax : 03-2550560


EXECUTIVE SUMMAR Y

Statu s

1) A survey of the beaches of Pangkor Island, the Sembila n

Islands, and the adjacent mainland was conducted t o
identify suitable beaches available for breeding marin e
turtles and the relative utilization of these beaches b y
nesting turtles . The survey was carried out in mid-Apri l
to coincide with the height of the green turtle nestin g
season, which reportedly extends from February to Jul y
with a peak in March and April . Green turtles are th e
most numerous sea turtle species in Perak . The followin g
observations were made :

a) Pantai Pasir Panjang is clearly the most importan t

nesting beach in the region . It has a greater lengt h
than any other beach and is relatively isolated fro m
human habitation and disturbance . The other beache s
north of Lumut (see Figure 1) are also utilized b y
nesting turtles, but to a lesser degree .

b) In the Sembilan Islands, beaches occur on only tw o

islands--Pulau Rumbia and Pulau Lalang South .
Evidence of green turtle nesting was recorded on on e
beach on Pulau Rumbia (number 4, Figure 4) and on on e
(or possibly two) beaches on Pulau Lalang Sout h
(numbers 5 and 7?, Figure 4) . A hawksbill (o r
possibly an olive ridley) body pit was also recorde d
on beach 5 on Pulau Lalang South .

c) Most beaches on Pangkor island and on the mainlan d

south of Lumut appear suitable for nesting turtles .
Although we found no evidence that turtles had neste d
recently, some nesting by green turtles, hawksbill s
and possibly olive ridleys probably occurs .

2) The presence of a dead sub-adult green turtle at Pangko r

Island on 17 April 1990 suggests that there is gree n
turtle foraging habitat in the vicinity of Pangkor .
Olive ridley and hawksbill turtles probably also forag e
in the area . Accidental capture of turtles in fishin g
gear is a serious problem in Perak waters .

3) The beaches and waters of the Sembilan Islands were badl y

polluted by oil at the time of our survey .

Recommendation s

Due to a long history of gross over-harvest of eggs, and mor e

recently to excessive accidental capture in fishing gear, th e
turtle populations of Perak must he considered criticall y
endangered . The following recommendations are strongl y
suggested as a means to prevent extinction of these animals :

Mortimer -- 1
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Continued )

Recommendations (Continued )

1) Pantai Pasir Panjang should be designated a sanctuary fo r

nesting turtles . Coastal development that would disrup t
the behavior of the nesting turtles should be prohibite d
within the sanctuary area . The turtles should b e
promoted as a tourist attraction, but human activitie s
including tourist visitation should be strictly regulate d
to minimize their impact on the nesting turtles .

2) All the turtle eggs laid at Pantai Pasir Panjang shoul d

be placed in the hatchery . Beach tenderers should b e
required by the terms of their licenses to sell 100% o f
the eggs they collect to the Fisheries Department . Th e
Fisheries Department should consider paying a highe r
price for eggs, so that the men are not tempted to sel l
their eggs in the market .

3) In order to reduce accidental capture in fishing gear ,

the laws restricting operation of trawlers in nearshor e
waters should be strictly enforced .


1 . Introduction and Backgroun d

During the 1989 nesting season, J . A . Mortimer (of WW F

Malaysia) and Sukarno bin Wagiman (of the Marine Fisherie s
Resource Research Centre) visited the Pasir Panjang beach o f
Perak in the company of Fisheries Personnel from the Ipo h
office of the Department of Fisheries for the State of Perak ,
and members of the Pantai Remis Angling Club who have lon g
shown keen interest in marine turtle conservation . Panta i
Pasir Panjang is famous for the sea turtles that nest there .

For at least ten years prior to the time of our visit ,

virtually all of the eggs deposited by nesting turtles ha d
been collected for human consumption (Lee, 1987) . Our purpos e
was to devise a management scheme for the nesting turtl e
populations which would be implemented during the 1990 nestin g
season . We interviewed local egg collectors, surveyed th e
nesting beach, and chose a site for construction of a
hatchery . See Mortimer (1989) for a report on that mission .

2. Objectives of the Present Study

The objectives of the present . study are twofold :

a) to view the recently constructed hatchery at Pantai Pasi r

Panjang, and if warranted, to offer suggestions of way s
to enhance the effectiveness of the project ; an d

b) to survey all the beaches in the region and identify an y

other significant turtle nesting beaches that deserv e
special protection .

3. Species of Marine Turtles Nesting and Seasonality an d

Relative Abundanc e

The most common species of sea turtle nesting in the area i s

the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) . An estimated 70 to 30 0
green turtle egg clutches are laid annually in the Pasi r
Panjang region (Mortimer, 1989) . The green turtle nestin g
season is reported to extend from February to July with a pea k
during the months of March and April (Lee 1987 ; Mortimer ,
1989) .

Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are known to nes t

on occasion . (Photographs taken during the 1988 nesting
season by Mr . Chan of the Perak Fisheries Department attest t o
this . )

Nesting by the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) may occu r

in the region, but has not been documented in the State o f
Perak . Olive ridley turtles have been reported nesting in th e
State of Kedah (Hifni Baharuddin of USM, pers . comm .) an d
previously nested in large numbers along the west coast o f

Mortimer -- 3


southern Thailand (Mortimer, 1988) . In late September 1989 ,

an injured olive ridley was positively identified whil e
swimming in the sea near Pangkor Island (Mikaail Kavanagh o f
WWF Malaysia, pers .. comm .) .

4. Methods and Timetabl e

On 16-18 April 1990 the beaches of Pangkor Island, th e

Sembilan Islands, and the adjacent mainland were surveyed t o
determine levels of nesting by marine turtles . The survey wa s
conducted in mid-April in order to coincide with the reporte d
peak of the green turtle nesting season .

Encik Zainuddin of the Lumut Office of the Department o f

Fisheries of the State of Perak participated in the survey .
The Pan-Pacific Resort of Pangkor Island kindly provided a
boat to facilitate the survey . Malaysian Photo Service made a
photo-record of events .

To determine levels of turtle nesting, we examined beaches fo r

the presence of tracks made by turtles during nestin g
emergences and for body pits excavated by turtles during nes t
construction . Depending on weather and sea conditions, turtl e
tracks are usually visible for about two weeks, and turtl e
body pits may last for several months .

All beaches on the mainland and at the Sembilan Islands wer e

examined from the boat using binoculars . We went ashore at a s
many of these beaches as possible, for a closer examination .
Time constraints limited how many beach landings we were abl e
to make . To maximize our efforts, we chose to land at beache s
having the widest and highest expanses of beach platform (i .e .
beaches with sand platforms least likely to be inundate d
during high tides) . Such beaches make the best turtle nestin g
sites, for turtle eggs can drown if submerged .

Beaches were surveyed according to the following schedule :

a) On 17 April 1990, between 0930 and 1500 hrs, th e

coastline from Motts Point north of Lumut to Tanjong Bat u
north of Pulau Talang was surveyed by boat . Eigh t
beaches were examined, and these are numbered 1 to 8 i n
Figure 1 . We swam ashore at the north end of Panta i
Pasir Panjang (beach number 4 in Figure 1), examined th e
northern portion of the beach, and visited the hatchery .

b) On 17 April 1990, between 1630 and 2000 hrs, we hired a

taxi and visited all the beaches on the island of Pangko r
that are accessible by road, and walked their entir e
lengths . These beaches are indicated in Figure 2 by th e
numbers 2 to 7 .

c) On 18 April 1990, between 0930 and 1230 hrs, we used th e

boat to survey seven mainland beaches south of Lumut .

Mortimer -- 4


These are numbered 9 to 15 in Figure 1 ; they are als o

numbered 9 to 15 in Figure 3, where they are shown i n
more detail . We went ashore at Telok Rabiah (numbere d
beach 15) and examined it closely while walking it s
length .

d) On 18 April 1990, between 1230 and 1800 hrs we continue d

by boat to the Sembilan Islands . There we visited th e
following islands and beaches shown in Figure 4 :

1. Pulau Rumbia . We walked the length of beaches 1 an d

4. We examined beaches 2 and 3 from the boat .

2. Pulau Lalang South . We walked the length of beach 5 ,

and examined beaches 6,7, and 8 from the boat usin g
binoculars .

3. The following islands had no beaches : :Pulau Agas ,

Pulau Payong, Pulau Nipis, Pulau Lalang North, Pula u
Saga and Pulau Buloh .

e) On 18 April 1990, on our way back to the jetty on Pangko r

Island, we went ashore at Tanjong Utara (beach number 1
in Figure 2) . This beach is not easily accessible b y
land .

5. Findings of the Present Stud y

5 .1 . Turtle Nestin g

During our survey we examined most of the available nestin g

beach in the State of Perak . North and south of the area w e
surveyed, the Perak coastline consists almost entirely o f
mangroves and mud . The following is a summary of ou r
findings :

5 .1 .1 . Pangkor Islan d

Neither turtle tracks nor turtle body pits were observed o n

any of the beaches surveyed at Pangkor Island . All th e
beaches examined, however, appeared to be suitable for nestin g
turtles, with the exception of Pasir Bogak Beach and Telo k
Belanga both of which are now extensively developed .

Nevertheless, occasional turtle nesting probably occurs a t

Pangkor Island . According to Mr . Yap Jek Nan (pers . comm . )
turtle eggs reportedly collected at Pangkor Island have bee n
observed for sale in the Pangkor Market .


5 .1 .2 . The Mainland Beache s

The most important mainland nesting beach for turtles i s

clearly Pantai Pasir Panjang . It is much longer than any o f
the other beaches in the area (about 7 km long (Lee, 1987) )
and is isolated from human habitation . The only artificia l
light visible on this beach at night is that produced b y
visitors who come to fish or watch for turtles . Along th e
northern 0 .5 km of the beach we recorded 6 green turtle bod y
pits (without visible emergence tracks), 3 green turtle track s
two to five days old, and 1 very fresh green turtle track fro m
the previous night . Reportedly, green turtles also nest o n
all the beaches north of Lumut (beaches numbered 1 to 8 i n
Figure 1 .

On the beaches south of Lumut (those numbered 9 to 15 i n

Figures 2 and 3) we observed neither turtle tracks nor bod y
pits . All the beaches (except beach number 9 at Telok Bata k
which is extensively developed) appear suitable for nestin g
turtles . Occasional turtle nesting probably does occur a t
these beaches .

5 .1 .3 . The Sembilan Island s

Eight beaches--four on Pulau Rumbia and four on Pulau Lalan g

South--were identified and examined (see Figure 4) .

1) At Pulau Rumbia, four green turtle body pits wer e

observed along the northern half of beach number 4 . N o
turtle tracks or body pits were recorded at beaches 1, 2
or 3 on Pulau Rumbia .

2) At Pulau Lalang South, beach number 5 had a high platfor m

of beach sand at the south end . Here four old gree n
turtle body pits were recorded . Mid-way along the lengt h
of the beach an additional green turtle body pit, and a
hawksbill (or possibly olive ridley) body pit were als o
recorded . We did not land at beach number 7 on the sam e
island, but from the sea, it was apparent that this beac h
also had a high sand platform, and looked to be a goo d
nesting area for turtles . There was no evidence o f
turtle nesting on either beach number 6 or 8 . (Beac h
number 8 was littered with much debri that had washe d
ashore . )

During our visit to the Sembilan Islands, we encountere d

several commercial fishing boats anchored in sheltered bays- -
especially bays adjacent to beaches . Most egg clutche s
deposited by nesting turtles in the islands are probabl y
collected by fishermen from such boats, soon after egg-layin g
occurs .


5 .2 Oil Pollution

All the beaches visited in the Sembilan Islands were severel y

polluted by melting blobs of tar that had washed ashore . Som e
of the blobs measured more than 30 cm in diameter . This oi l
pollution was apparently of recent origin, for balls of ta r
were also seen floating in great abundance in the waters nea r
the islands .

5 .3 Accidental. Capture and Mortality in Fishing Gear

We recorded a dead subadult green turtle (about 80 cm curve d

carapace length) at 1700 hrs on 17 April 1990, on the beach o f
the northern cove of Telok Nipah on Pangkor Island . It wa s
slightly bloated, and appeared to have been dead for a coupl e
of days . The only sign of injury on its body was abrasions o n
its throat . These may have been caused by pressure from a
net, suggesting that the turtle drowned when it becam e
entangled in fishing gear and then drifted ashore . We
examined its gut for the presence of food (see section 5 .4) .

According to informants, each year several turtles wash ashor e

dead apparently after drowning in fishing gear in offshor e
waters . Many other turtles probably either wash out to sea ,
or are eaten by the Chinese fishing crews that predominate i n
the State of Perak .

Accidental capture in fishing gear is a serious threat t o

turtles in the waters of the State of Perak which harbors a n
immense trawl fishing industry (pukat tunda) . Unfortunately ,
many of these vessels operate very near the shoreline ,
ignoring laws restricting their operation in nearshore waters .

5 .4 Offshore Foraging Habita t

The presence of a subadult green turtle (section 5 .3) suggest s

that the region offers foraging habitat for green turtles .
Breeding adults do not require available forage in th e
vicinity of the nesting grounds . Juveniles and subadul t
turtles, on the other hand, are generally found in areas wher e
forage occurs . Although the stomach of the dead turtle wa s
empty, its lower gut was full of well digested green plan t
material typical of that found in the guts of green turtle s
foraging on sea grass . At the time of this writing, I do no t
know if sea grass pasture has been recorded in the waters o f
Perak .

Olive ridleys commonly forage in muddy areas off river mouths .

Thus, much suitable foraging habitat occurs for olive ridley s
along the coast of Perak . The observation of the olive ridle y
near Pangkor (see section 3) suggests the possibility tha t
ridley turtles utilize this area as foraging habitat .

Mortimer -- 7


Hawksbill turtles forage at coral reefs which occur in th e

vicinity of the Pangkor and Sembilan Islands .

5 .4 The Hatchery at Pantai Pasir Panjanq

The hatchery at Pantai Pasir Panjang is constructed at th e

rear of the beach in what appears to be a very good location .
It measures about 4 meters wide and 75 meters lon g
(approximately) . A shelter for the caretakers has bee n
constructed beside the hatchery, and at least one man guard s
the hatchery at all times .

On 17 April 1990, there were five egg clutches buried in th e

hatchery . Each egg clutch was split into two complements o f
50 eggs, buried separately . Thus there were 10 nests in th e
hatchery, each containing 50 eggs . The five egg clutches ha d
been collected during the two week period between 28 March an d
13 April 1990 .

Despite the new hatchery, a high percentage of the eggs lai d

by nesting turtles at Pantai Pasir Panjang may still end up i n
the marketplace . The following evidence indicates that no t
all the eggs laid by nesting turtles were being placed in th e
hatchery :

a) The relatively large numbers of turtle tracks w e

encountered on the beach suggest that more than five eg g
clutches were laid during the previous two weeks ;

b) Green turtles usually lay well over 100 eggs per clutch ,
but exactly 100 eggs from each egg clutch were placed i n
the hatchery . This suggests that the balance wa s
harvested for human consumption .

c) The egg collectors at Pantai. Pasir Panjang reportedly ar e

not legally bound to sell their eggs to the Fisherie s
personnel at the hatchery, and may be able to sell thei r
eggs at a higher price elsewhere .

6. Recommendation s

The turtle populations of Perak are in serious danger o f

extinction, due to gross over-harvest of eggs and t o
accidental capture of animals in commercial fishing gear .
Every effort must be made to provide maximum protection to th e
turtles in this region . The following recommendations ar e
strongly suggested :

1) Pantai Pasir Panjang should be designated a sanctuary fo r

nesting turtles . Coastal development that would disrup t
the behavior of the nesting turtles should be prohibite d
within the sanctuary area . The turtles should be

Mortimer -- 8


promoted as a tourist attraction, but human activities ,

including tourist visitation should be strictly regulate d
to minimize their impact on the nesting turtles .

2) All the turtle eggs laid at Pantai Pasir Panjang shoul d

be placed in the hatchery . Beach tenderers should b e
required by the terms of their licenses to sell 100% o f
the eggs they collect to the Fisheries Department . Th e
Fisheries Department should pay a higher price for eggs ,
so that the men are not tempted to sell their eggs in th e
market .

3) In order to reduce accidental capture in fishing gear ,

the laws restricting operation of trawlers in nearshor e
waters should be strictly enforced .

Acknowledgment s

Special thanks goes to Mr . Yap Jek Nan of IGB Corporatio n

Berhad who arranged for use of the survey boat courtesy of th e
Pan-Pacific Resorts . I am grateful for the opportunity t o
work with the Department of Fisheries, and for the support o f
the Director of Fisheries for the State of Perak, Mr . Cho y
Slew Kiong . Much appreciated assistance in the field wa s
provided by Encik Zainuddin (of Perak Fisheries Department )
and Mr . S . Arase Sugawara and Miss Lim Mei Fong (of Malaysia n
Photo Service) . The staff of WWF Malaysia has bee n
continuously supportive . Dr . Mikaail Kavanagh made helpfu l
comments on an earlier draft of this paper . This study wa s
funded by WWF Project 3868 .

Reference s

Lee Kup Jip . 1987 . Preliminary survey of sea turtl e nestin g

site at Pantai Pasir Panjang, Segari, Perak . Repor t
presented to WWF Malaysia .

Mortimer, J. A. 1988 . The pilot project to promote se a

turtle conservation in South Thailand wit h
recommendations for a draft marine turtle conservation
strategy for Thailand . Unpublished report to Wildlif e
Fund Thailand and WWF/USA . 58 pp .

Mortimer, J . A . 1989 . Recommendations for management of th e

turtle nesting populations at Pantai Remis, Perak .
Submitted to the Department of Fisheries Malaysia .


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