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Dozens of juvenile green turtles, incubated locally and under the care of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and Ocean Park over the past seven months, have been returned to the sea.
Department staff set 61 turtles free on Tai Long Wan beach in batches in a week-long operation that started last Wednesday (July 11) and finished at noon today (July 17). The turtles will spend their first few years in the seaweed mats in open waters.
Wetland & Fauna Conservation Officer (Monitoring) Mr Cheung Ka-shing said the release of the turtles took into account suitable water temperature and favourable water current.
"It is the right time to send them back to the sea. We arranged the release in July because apart from warmer water temperature, the water current off Tai Long Wan is moving towards the open waters and will help push the turtles to their destinations," he said.
"The timing also matched with the nesting season and incubation period of green turtles in Hong Kong. By setting them free on Tai Long Wan beach, the place of their birth, we hope they can rely on the smell to come back for breeding when they reach maturity."
The operation went smoothly. When released, the turtles left the beach and quickly swam away from the shore. It is likely that they will continue swimming with intermittent breaks until they reach the seaweed mats which provide shelter and food.
The department microchipped the turtles for future identification and took blood samples from them for scientific research purposes.
Since being hatched last December, the turtles had grown remarkably. In a matter of seven months, they increased on average from 25 grammes to 800 grammes in weight and from 5cm to 16cm in carapace length.
Mr Cheung said that their size, together with their swimming speed and deep-diving skills, made them relatively safe from predators at sea.
In the past seven months, the turtles were kept in three locations including the Hong Kong Wetland Park, Hong Kong Ocean Park and the department headquarters. They were fed with fish, squid, scallop, shrimp and vegetables. Some were on display in the two parks for education purposes.
The juveniles' story dated back to last September when their mother was found nesting on Tai Long Wan. Because of the cooling weather and the risk of outside disturbance, the department collected the eggs for both artificial and natural incubation and eventually obtained 61 hatchlings.
Tai Long Wan had not been nested by sea turtles for more than 30 years. The department will continue to monitor the area and its vicinity for any new nesting incidents.
The green turtle is an endangered species. When seeing signs of sea turtles in Hong Kong, the public should call the department via the Government Hotline 1823.
Ends/Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:08
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