Leatherback Turtle
The Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is the largest turtle in the world, exceeding two metres in carapace length and weighing over half a metric tonne. The largest leatherback to have been reported is one with a shell length of almost 2.5m, and weighing 860kg.

The sumo size of the leatherbacks explains why they seem to heave, huff and puff their way up to the beaches on the East Coast to lay their eggs. And people don't make things easier by sitting on them either.

Unlike land turtles which can lift their bodies above the ground and stand on their stumpy four legs; marine turtles are unable to do that. Evolution has fused their "finger" into flippers to make them ace swimmers in the sea, but helpless victims of human insensitivity on land.

A leatherback is recognisable by its distinctive carapace marked by seven vertical ridges on its back. It resembles a starfruit, and in Bahasa Melayu the leatherback is aptly known as penyu belimbing. The body has a dark coloration with white spots.

It has a deeply notched upper jaw to help it capture jellyfish, their main food, and other soft marine life. Each turtle can lay between 60 to 120 eggs. Their eggs are round with soft leathery shells slightly larger than a ping-pong ball.

Turtles lay eggs in a nest chamber. After covering the soil the mother goes back into the sea. And from the day they are hatched, the young turtles must fend for themselves.

The eggs take between a month to three months to hatch.

Leatherbacks nest in Terengganu and Pahang, especially at Rantau Abang and Paka. Their nesting season is between May and August.

The population of marine turtles in Malaysia has been declining at an alarming rate over the past few years. The population of leatherback turtles, for example, has been critically depleted by more than 99% since the 1950s. Green turtles have declined by at least 60% since the turtle populations is equally serious.

Green Turtle
Its simple name doesn't come without good reason. The Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is actually olive-brown in colour - it is named for the colour of its fat.

The second largest turtle among the species that lands in this country, the Green turtle weighs around 270kg.

You may call this the vegetarian turtle as its diet is mainly sea grass and sea weeds.

The temperature of the beach sand determines the proportion of males and females that are produced from a turtle's nest of eggs. Warmer temperatures produced more females - cooler temperatures produce more males!

Olive Ridley Turtle
The Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the smallest of the four turtles found in Malaysia - adults are about 60-65cm long and weighs a comparatively light 50kg.

Like the colour of an olive fruit, the Olive Ridley turtle shell is dark green as well. And it feeds mainly on crabs, shrimps and other crustaceans. The nesting season is between March and June.

Each turtle lays up to around 100 eggs each time.

The fate of freshwater turtles which nest on beaches near the mouths of rivers is no less worrying. There is, for example, the Painted Terrapin, so named because adult males change colour during the breeding season, attaining a white head with a bright red stripe between the eyes. Both the Setiu and Paka rivers in Terengganu harbour the largest populations of theise reptiles in the world. However, neither these rivers nor their nesting beaches are protected under law. Few large populations of reptile remain and it is now rarely seen in many rivers where it was once common. There are quite a number of reasons for this drastic drop in turtle numbers. Marine turtles frequently drown in fishing nets. Lights and beach activity also scare turtles from their nesting sites and prevent females from coming up to beaches. Perhaps the most majost problem facing Malaysia's turtles is the consumption of their eggs by humans. Only in Terengganu and Pahang is there a ban on the collection, sale and consumption of Leatherback turtle eggs. But no similar ban is imposed on the eggs of the other marine turtles found there.

Hawksbill Turtle
The Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is named after its hawk like beak. Quite easily recognisable by the overlapping arrangement of shell on its carapce, this turtle is called penyu sisik in Bahasa Melayu.

A turtle's shell consists of two parts; an upper part called the carapace and a lower part called the plastron. And where the carapace meets a plastron, there are openings for the head, legs and tail. It has a shell made of beautiful dark brown or yellow and brown scales which overlap each other. Hawksbills are intensely hunted because their shells are fashioned into tortoise shell jewllery.

The hawksbill normally doesn't exceed one metre in length and weighs up to 75kg. Its body is pale in colour with pale spots and stripes.

The turtle feeds mainly on sponges and soft corals and is easily found in the vicinity of coral reefs.

This also makes it an easy target for bomb fishing activity which occurs around the vicinity of rich coral reefs.

Turtles are also losing their habitats and natural nesting areas - mostly due to activities such as coastal reclamation, resort development and sand mining. Dramatically fewer turtles are nesting in Malaysia year by year, meaning that there will be fewer turtle eggs. Only a very small percentage of these turtle eggs survive to become hatchlings, and out of those hatchlings even fewer may survive to become mature turtles - due to both natural and human activities. However, if the number of turtle eggs to start with is already small, what glimmer of hope can there be that this unique natural heritage of our country, the marine turtle, will not face complete extinction?

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