By: Natalia Trita Agnika
Turtle Warrior

"When we are tired, in the middle of the night we walk against sleepiness, against fatigue. If there are no turtles on the road, we go back. Walk again, go back again. I was sleepy, tired. But when we meet turtles that are about to lay eggs, the tiredness goes away. Or when we meet a hatchling that just came out of the sand, all the tiredness is instantly forgotten!" said Efraim Kambu while beaming about his experience of conducting sea turtle monitoring.

Efraim Kambu, also known as Eka, is a staff of WWF-Indonesia Papua Program's Monitoring Officer in charge of turtle monitoring at Jeen Syuab Beach (formerly Warmon). Together with trained local communities, Efraim monitors turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. Besides collecting data on turtles, he also conducts predator control.

Even though the turtles have successfully come ashore to lay their eggs, it does not mean that the regeneration of the turtles is safe and smooth. There are several natural predators that threaten. Lizards, dogs, and wild boars can prey on the turtle eggs at any time. To prevent monitor lizards from preying on turtle eggs, monitoring officers usually set snares around the nests. They also install fences to keep out stray dogs and wild boars. In addition, they urge residents not to bring dogs to the area around the beach.

The location of the nests, which are vulnerable to being swept away by the waves, can also prevent the eggs from hatching. Moreover, the peak nesting season for leatherback turtles in Jeen Syuab is in December-January. These months are also the peak of high waves that can threaten turtle nests.

If they find a nest that is at risk of being swept away by waves or submerged in seawater, Efraim and his friends will relocate the nest. In accordance with the SOP (Standard Operation Procedure), they carefully move the eggs to a new, safer nest. The arrangement of the eggs is adjusted to the original arrangement as when the mother turtle laid the eggs in the old nest.

In addition to leatherback turtles, there are also Olive Ridley turtles that often land on Jeen Syuab Beach to lay their eggs. Unlike the leatherback turtle, the Olive Ridley turtle has a shallower nest hole. The eggs in these nests are prone to failure to hatch because they are easily taken by predators so they must be monitored regularly.

Monitoring sea turtles is not an easy job. The activity takes place at night because sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs at night. Usually Efraim will patrol from 20.00-04.00. While waiting for the turtles to come ashore, there should be no disturbance such as light or sound. If disturbed, the turtle will fail to lay eggs and return to the water.

"Usually when I am waiting, I use it to calculate the time. How many minutes does it take from the beach to the land? How long will the turtle be free of sand to dig a hole. Just for fun to pass the time," said Efraim. After the patient waiting period, he then carried out measurement activities, identification, etc. All these activities are carried out when the turtles are laying eggs because they will not disturb them. His activities still continue in the morning with trail observations and relocation of nests if any need to be moved.

Initially, the surrounding community did not agree when there was a discourse to move the turtle nests. They assumed that the eggs would not hatch if moved. Their assumptions were dispelled when they saw for themselves how many hatchlings hatched from the relocated nests. They also support the relocation of some nests for the sake of turtle conservation.

The dedication of Efraim and his friends who monitor sea turtles makes a real contribution to the conservation of these ancient animals. They struggle in conditions far from family, rarely communicate with them, and are accustomed to maximizing the potential that exists . "If it is not protected quickly, everything will be destroyed and the community will get nothing," he said regarding the threats to sea turtle conservation.

You can support sea turtle conservation efforts like Efraim's by becoming a Turtle Warrior.