DUNGUN, Sept 13: A leatherback turtle was detected landing and laying 81 eggs at Rantau Abang Beach here early this morning, after it was first recorded landing at Pasir Putih Beach in Marang on Sept 1 this year.
Terengganu Fisheries Department director Pang Nyukang said the world’s largest turtle species was believed to have landed at the beach between 1.30 am and 2.30 am, with the nest discovered by a licensed turtle egg collector at 4 am.
However, he said the mother turtle had returned to the sea after laying its eggs and was no longer at the site when the nest was discovered.
“The Fisheries Department does not rule out the possibility that the leatherback turtle that landed was the same mother that landed and laid eggs at Pasir Putih Beach about two weeks ago,” he said in a statement.
He said the tracks left by the “King of Turtles” measured 2.20 metres, while the eggs measured five centimetres in diameter.
Pang said the eggs had been handed over to the Fisheries Department for incubation at the Turtle Conservation Centre Hatchery in Rantau Abang.
“The eggs are expected to hatch within 50 to 70 days from today,” he said, adding that the mother turtle is expected to return to the Rantau Abang stretch of beach to lay eggs for the third time in about two weeks.
Bernama previously reported that a leatherback turtle landed at Pasir Putih Beach on the night of Sept 1 and laid 44 eggs.
The last recorded landing of the marine reptile on a Terengganu beach was in 2017.
— BERNAMA