Borneo: Sepilok Orang Utans and Turtle Islands National Park

After we returned from the wilderness of the Kinabatangan River, we decided to take a day to relax at our favorite budget hotel, Mayfair. Perhaps the greatest perk of returning from electricity-less, humid, muddy nature is the joy of basic, modern conveniences. Five A/C'ed movies later (and several showers), we emerged ready to tackle our next wildlife activity. We found an transpo agency that could take us to Turtle Islands National Park, which is located some 40 kilometers north of Sandakan city in Sabah, off the coast of east Borneo/Malaysia. Due to regulations from the Sabah Park Authority, the number of visitors to the islands is quite limited, so we were thrilled to get the chance to go on such short notice.

Turtle Islands NP consists of 3 islands, Pulaus Selingan, Bakkungan Kecil and Gulisan. It is most famous for the green and hawksbill turtles which lay their eggs nightly on the beaches of the islands- usually the same beach where they once were hatched, decades earlier. Booking the trip was a snap, and the next morning we found ourselves awash in sunlight, bouncing along picture-perfect emerald water out into the open sea.

The itinerary for a trip to Turtle Islands NP goes something like this: arrive mid-day, have lunch, and spend the afternoon paddling around the shallows, snorkelling in the reef, or sun worshipping on the powdery sand. The real action doesn't start until after dark when all visitors are corraled into a waiting area to await the call from the park ranger that a mother turtle has come ashore. Park rules and regulations are strictly enforced and visitors are not allowed on the beach from sunset to sunrise so as not to disturb the turtles. After an incredible sunset (made perhaps more impressive by a distant lightning storm we could see just beyond the mainland over the water), we took our dinner and began the turtle waiting game. Our guide Rose said that the longest she ever had to wait with a group was until 4:00 AM. Hopefully that would not be the case for us.

While waiting, we enjoyed some beers and dinner with new friends Moniek and Sven from the Netherlands, and Christian and Lotte from Denmark. For the first time on our trip we had met two other couples doing exactly as we were- travelling for a year. Hopefully our paths will cross again accross SE Asia and Oz/NZ.

When we got the call from the ranger, we all were rushed to the beach. No flashlights are allowed (they might disturb the laboring mother), so it was quite dark. The stars over the beach were brilliant, though, and lit the way once we cleared the palms overhead. There on the sand was a giant green turtle, laying eggs. She was facing towards the forest, and according to the forest ranger was in some sort of birthing-mental-zone, where she was completely unaware of our presence. She had dug a hole in the sand (a nest for her eggs) and we could see the eggs falling from her, white, perfectly round, and almost resembling ping-pong balls. As soon as they dropped into the nest, a ranger quickly retrieved them for reburial in the hatchery off the beach where they would be safe from predators. The mother didn't see any of this, of course. It felt a little wrong that we should all be there watching her struggle through labor, but the rangers handled it very professionally and tastefully. After the laying and collection of eggs, and eventual tagging of the turtle if it is a ‘first time visitor’ (which our turtle, "Christina," was), we were taken up to the hatchery to observe the further work of the rangers: the transplantation of the freshly laid eggs into a man-made incubation chamber. The burial chamber is no different from that the mother turtle digs on the beach: 60-75 cm deep, but within a protected hatchery to make it impossible for natural predators to dig the nests open. Interesting note, since temperature determines the sex of the turtles, part of the hatchery is shaded, while the rest remains under the open sun.

After the transplantation of the eggs, we were taken to a beach on a different side of the island to watch turtle hatchlings as they were released into the sea. This is also done at night as to further increase their survival chances. Pictures were allowed, but without flash, so it's difficult to see what's going on:

arrival

view of surrounding islands... many of these are part of the Philippines, and not Malaysia

turtle tracks on the beach from the night before

the hatchery

green turtle laying her eggs- no flash, so difficult to see...

the turtle eggs

The next morning after our visit to Turtle Islands National Park, we got the bus to drop us off at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary, supposedly the largest and best orang utan sanctuary in the world (there are four total, in case you were wondering). These orang utans are all orphaned or rescued from domesication at local farms, and are at the sanctuary to be taught the climbing and food-gathering skills vital for survival in the wild. Some of the orang utans will eventually leave Sepilok for placement back in their natural habitat. Others prefer to stay at the sanctuary, and will live out their lives there. Either way, the staff take care of them for as long as it takes. Every day at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM sanctuary rangers bring the orangs food at a feeding platform easily visible from the walkway beneath. They are given the same meal every day in hopes that this will encourage them to seek other food elsewhere for diversity in diet. We were told the staple meal was bananas and milk, but the orangs we saw were fed rambutan fruit and bamboo. Perhaps that's the "rainy day" meal? At the end of the session, a mother and baby approached the platform, which was awesome to see. Anyway, we'll let the pictures do the talking here. We spent over an hour watching these amazing creatures and their antics: