"Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."

     Oh, how time flies! In just a few weeks, we will leave our second home, The Learning Tree. BUT, our teachers promised that these last few weeks would be filled with fun and excitement. And wow, have they been making good on that promise!

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     A few weeks ago, our whole batch embarked on a field trip to the Pawikan Conservation Center (PCC) in Morong, Bataan. Pawikan is the Filipino word for sea turtle, a reptile that lives in a marine environment. Unlike their relatives, the regular turtles or pagong, pawikans have flippers that are long and quite paddle-like, making it easy for them to swim in water, but also makes it harder for them to walk on land. 

     The field trip's goal was to promote environmental awareness of marine life -- sea turtles are an endangered species and if their number continues to decline, it would disrupt the peaceful balance of the marine ecosystem. We joined the field trip because we knew it was going to be a unique learning experience. We were also certain that this trip would be one that we would fondly remember, especially because we were going to release hatchlings! Yes, female sea turtles lay their eggs on land.

     We expected to discover loads of new knowledge about sea turtles on this trip; the buzz of excitement didn't die down as we neared our destination. On the contrary, the grins on our faces seemed to grow wider and wider with each passing minute, regardless of how tired everyone felt for getting up earlier than usual.

    There were lots to see, lots to learn. Sitting in the bus, we expected to get a lecture about pawikans - about their habitats, their importance, and general information about their lives. In short, we expected to have a deeper understanding of pawikans after this trip. Perhaps they hid an ancient secret that would hold the key to life and the future? Nah.

    As we arrived at the PCC, we were awestruck by the beauty of the far-stretching beach with relatively clean water. The center itself was like a warm beach house, with lots of posters and sayings about pawikans on the walls. As expected, our visit there began with a short lecture about the sea turtle's natural habitat, life cycle and the steady decline in population, which is mainly caused by... man. Yes, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR DECREASING NUMBER.

Life cycle of a sea turtle
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     After the short briefing, we were given the hatchlings we had paid for -- to "adopt" and release into the sea, to let them live their own lives. They squirmed in our hands so much, it was a miracle these li'l munchkins didn't try to jump into the water. When we were told to let go, we couldn't help but treat it like a race; there was a lot of shouting and hollering of, "HA! Mine reached the water first!" Aww, they left home so soon!

     The species of hatchlings we released, by the way, was Olive Ridley, or, in scientific terms, Lepidochelys olivacea. The Olive Ridley is also known as the Pacific Ridley, and sea turtles of this species are usually found in coastal bays.

  The taxonomic classification of Olive Ridley turtles is as follows:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Family: Cheloniidae

Genus: Lepidochelys

Species: L. olivacea

     The Olive Ridley is a small sea turtle, with an adult carpace length averaging 60 to 70 cm. According to Wikipedia, Olive Ridleys are unique because "they can have a variable and asymmetrical lateral scute count ranging from five to nine plates on each side, with six to eight being most commonly observed." They were the most common species in the center, and their size and color made them the cutest sea turtles around!

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     Due to the lack of historical information, some of the past ecological functions of sea turtles have been forgotten. This is because sea turtles are not in abundance as they used to be, and this affects their productivity in nature. Although we cannot fully understand their roles hundreds of years ago, it is important to discover these as much as possible to help us determine their roles in the marine ecosystem thereby giving us a chance to save them. If we find out about the conditions they lived in centuries ago, we could help them increase their population. 

     What we do know about sea turtles is that they have a great impact on ocean ecosystems because they help maintain healthy sea grass beds and coral reefs, keep balance in marine food-webs, and facilitate nutrient recycling from water to land even at diminished population levels.

     Leatherbacks are the largest species of sea turtles in the world, and do you know where they get their energy from? Jellyfish! The average leatherback eats at least 440 pounds of jellyfish a day (nearly the weight of an adult lion)! Leatherbacks play a crucial role in the ecosystem as jellyfish predators. If the jellyfish population is left unchecked, it would prey upon the other fishes and tilt the balance in the ecosystem.

     In addition to their role in the food chain, an item in New World Encyclopedia says that sea turtles play key roles in two ecosystems that are critical to them as well as to humans: the oceans and beaches/dunes. If sea turtles were to become extinct, the negative impact on beaches and oceans would be significant.

     In the oceans, for example, sea turtles, especially the green variety, are one of the very few creatures that eat a type of vegetation called sea grass that grows on the sea floor. Sea grass must be kept short to remain healthy, and beds of healthy sea grass are essential breeding and development areas for many species of fish and other marine life. A decline or loss of sea grass beds would mean a loss of the marine species that directly depend on the beds, which would trigger a chain reaction and negatively impact marine and human life. When one part of an ecosystem is destroyed, the other parts will follow.

     Here's a piece of trivia: did you know that Crush, the 150-year-old sea turtle from "Finding Nemo", is a green turtle? Totally righteous!

     If you think that's all we've learned about these sea turtles, think again! Next week, we'll tell you more about these small lovable creatures. Excited? We know we are!

     And with this friendly reminder:

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... we say goodbye for now!

Cheers!


* The title is a reference to the beloved Pixar movie "Finding Nemo", a classic that includes two sea turtles - Crush and his son Squirt.