tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44377326909968987092024-03-06T11:03:45.914+08:00Project Orion IIIUnknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04398509257182377999noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-9085602708278932642011-11-30T12:00:00.003+08:002011-12-04T15:11:56.797+08:00Rehabilitated turtles swim free<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h3 style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; color: rgb(207, 103, 3); ">Rehabilitated turtles swim free</h3><p style="margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0em; ">Just after 9am on Tuesday 29 November, two boats filled with Earthwatch volunteers from Amcor and scientist Dr Kathy Townsend headed out to deep water off North Stradbroke Island to release four healthy, rehabilitated turtles back into the open ocean.The loggerhead and three green turtles were all found back in August 2011 and were experiencing a range of issues, causing them to lose weight and be in very poor condition. Some of the turtles were found floating and were unable to dive for food which is often associated with marine rubbish inside the turtles gut, which is the current focus of the Turtles in Trouble research project. The biggest turtle – the Loggerhead known as Blossom – was rescued by the School of Biological Sciences undergraduate students on a field trip back in 2005. The turtle was found floating just in front of the research station during the field course and was carried back to the station for care by four students.</p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" >Summary of the turtles released: </span></strong></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="font-size: 12px; margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0em; "><b>Loggerhead turtle called “Blossom”</b><br />Condition on arrival: was very weak and dehydrated (eyes sunken), covered in algae & sea squirts. Missing front right flipper and the back of the shell (carapace) missing.<br />Bodyweight on arrival: 32.25kg<br />Currently: 56.15kg</p></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkD05QBLlOghoCbxU5c3yAF9zQ72Gtcl_zg-5zs39IWQstSwkFeQIryZsxeZq6NMwB_rZdddTTDhbx5QjK7s3t-K5lu0spEFKUQ6jq9vl4QBa4LQEYd3Soymy3SM1Qi_dt0gNz3jorXah_/s1600/Loggerhead.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkD05QBLlOghoCbxU5c3yAF9zQ72Gtcl_zg-5zs39IWQstSwkFeQIryZsxeZq6NMwB_rZdddTTDhbx5QjK7s3t-K5lu0spEFKUQ6jq9vl4QBa4LQEYd3Soymy3SM1Qi_dt0gNz3jorXah_/s320/Loggerhead.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682165633900114210" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Green turtle</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0em; ">Condition on arrival: Floating turtle with large barnacles, burrowing barnacles and leeches.<br />Body weight:15.4kg<br />Currently:19.6kg</p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Green turtle called “Thorpe”</b><br />Condition on arrival: Floating, lesions on carapace and a few surface parasites.<br />Body weight: 7.45kg<br />Currently: 9.75kg<br /><br /><b>Green tutle called “Splash”</b><br />Condition on arrival: Floating – possible impaction due to ingested marine debris<br />Body weight: 16.05kg</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Currently: 18.9 kg</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdLfkCifnTpdZjz2o-QKhyPGQ47NXmTySat-GBudAMtiYeiSNu5A9ckty_LF2ge9jCiFbQD3PIiRRVV4EbaNanvDPUap0_FWwZ1doja5834Suwsdu1TT_ELKf0YbOUgwTEKo4hgknopm3/s320/Green+T.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682166044339080594" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0em; "><b><br /></b></p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong>About the project: </strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Since 2006, Earthwatch has been working with the University of Queensland's Moreton Bay Research Station and Dr Kathy Townsend on sick, injured and dead sea turtles. Underwater World Mooloolabah has also been supporting thte project by undertaking long term care of injured turtles, after initially being treated on North Stradbroke Island. The project relies heavily on the help and support of the traditional owners of North Stradbroke Island (Minjerrinbah) and Earthwatch volunteers.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoI9ixaPRh1sIILdqhXXUfo1Hz_OWM0D5NUjbUm0hVh5_IJFXxbQy_-mXGYQXlYdmj9jM2UZwxwzQUldsAX5Dc6xc9crdVIHu0tV5HZEkBo0QyvtStcZg6nXK7Is0afypqMc4_H16k3zn/s1600/Volunteers.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoI9ixaPRh1sIILdqhXXUfo1Hz_OWM0D5NUjbUm0hVh5_IJFXxbQy_-mXGYQXlYdmj9jM2UZwxwzQUldsAX5Dc6xc9crdVIHu0tV5HZEkBo0QyvtStcZg6nXK7Is0afypqMc4_H16k3zn/s320/Volunteers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682166696086925378" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></a></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtbl_C4oMzEM_5ISdJ5Yxd8ZkX-lOWfABi7gr6jfqfUs7XmtU1VWJ0LEDVZTANBZw-XaM1P7uTb0Vzg9bsTqpXkTUM18Kn6heVlPPHyK854atHhD9y90JOA8CAvls30lfqzjnBhJLKBZY/s1600/Release.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtbl_C4oMzEM_5ISdJ5Yxd8ZkX-lOWfABi7gr6jfqfUs7XmtU1VWJ0LEDVZTANBZw-XaM1P7uTb0Vzg9bsTqpXkTUM18Kn6heVlPPHyK854atHhD9y90JOA8CAvls30lfqzjnBhJLKBZY/s320/Release.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682166888489105122" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Credits to EARTHWATCH Institute Australia: </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://www.earthwatch.org/australia/news/headlines/news_turtlesreleased.html">http://www.earthwatch.org/australia/news/headlines/news_turtlesreleased.html</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Sign off: Project Orion III</span></div>Unknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04398509257182377999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-80383243360249961812011-09-18T22:37:00.001+08:002011-09-18T22:38:16.382+08:00Endangered Species of the Week: Leatherback Turtle<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.arkive.org/leatherback-turtle/dermochelys-coriacea/image-G112642.html"><img alt="Male leatherback turtle in open ocean " border="0" height="266" id="mainImage" src="http://cdn1.arkive.org/media/2A/2A2C2BC5-3FC8-4CF7-8A71-CFA29FB517F4/Presentation.Medium/Male-leatherback-turtle-in-open-ocean-.jpg" title="View a slideshow of photos of the Leatherback turtle" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Species: </strong>Leatherback turtle (<em>Dermochelys coriacea</em>)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Status: </strong>Critically Endangered (CR) </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Interesting Fact:</strong> The leatherback turtle has been known to weigh almost a tonne!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world’s largest species of turtle, the </span><a href="http://www.arkive.org/leatherback-turtle/dermochelys-coriacea/" target="_self" title="ARKive species page: Leatherback turtle"><strong><span style="color: #4671a9; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">leatherback</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is indeed a giant of the seas. This species earned its name due to the lack of bony plates on its shell, which is instead flexible and covered in a thin layer of leathery skin. The leatherback turtle feeds mainly on jellyfish and other soft bodied species. It is exceptional amongst reptiles because it is partly able to maintain an elevated body temperature, and uses this feature to allow it to dive to depths greater than 1,000 meters in search of prey. Females lay around 100 eggs in nests excavated on beaches, and the sex of the hatchling turtles is dependent on the temperature of the nest.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the greatest threat to the leatherback turtle is global climate change. This is expected to affect this species through habitat loss, physiological changes and loss of prey. Other threats to the leatherback turtle include accidental capture by fishing nets, boat strikes, and ingestion of discarded plastics, which the turtles mistake for jellyfish. The leatherback turtle is protected throughout most of its range and many conservation projects have been set up on leatherback turtle nesting beaches. However, the future still remains uncertain for this fantastic reptile.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">View </span><a href="http://www.arkive.org/leatherback-turtle/dermochelys-coriacea/" target="_self" title="ARKive species page: Leatherback turtle"><strong><span style="color: #4671a9; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">images and footage of the leatherback turtle on ARKive.</span></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discover more about threatened species on our new </span><a href="http://www.arkive.org/endangered-species/" target="_self" title="ARKive's Endangered Species pages"><strong><span style="color: #4671a9; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Endangered species pages</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Follow tagged leatherback turtles on the </span><a href="http://topp.org/species/leatherback_turtle" target="_blank" title="Tagging of Pacific Predators website"><strong><span style="color: #4671a9; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tagging of Pacific Predators website</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Becky Moran, ARKive Species Text Author</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Source:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;">Moran, B. (2011, 09 16). <i>Endangered Species of the Week: Leatherback Turtle</i>. Retrieved 09 18, 2011, from ARKive: http://blog.arkive.org/2011/09/endangered-species-of-the-week-leatherback-turtle/</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-32854587764984520122011-09-08T11:56:00.001+08:002011-12-13T15:17:02.961+08:00Philippines holds three for turtle trafficking<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4azQ9lo28oXVPz7v592xgZlKSm5jmDiJcbFpJKE0CEE_KfFMQiqzXx6WQmpZIyJPOIvsrdxlAP62X9gZH4FGz3WS8bZsyp0K63dNZo24mRjpGljwwHfrIiY-Q3leC-HcXvUX7AYjgZ5DX/s1600/300097.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 245px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4azQ9lo28oXVPz7v592xgZlKSm5jmDiJcbFpJKE0CEE_KfFMQiqzXx6WQmpZIyJPOIvsrdxlAP62X9gZH4FGz3WS8bZsyp0K63dNZo24mRjpGljwwHfrIiY-Q3leC-HcXvUX7AYjgZ5DX/s320/300097.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685508527122319458" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Philippine police have arrested three people for allegedly trafficking in some of the world's rarest and least known turtles.</span></div><span style="font-size: small; "></span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Philippine police arrested three people for allegedly trafficking in some of the world's rarest and least known turtles, officials said Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Police on Wednesday detained the two women and a man during a raid on a house in rundown district of Manila where 21 turtles and 70 endangered birds were found, said Marlyn Siglos, a member of the city government's media office.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Siglos said Wednesday's raid was the first major action by Manila mayor Alfredo Lim since he took office last year to stamp out the well-known trade of endangered species in the city.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The mayor said we need to warn the public that the trade and export of endangered species is against the law," Siglos told AFP.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Police suspect the turtles and the birds -- 69 hill mynahs and one crested serpent-eagle -- seized this week were captured on the western island of Palawan and destined for export to supply the global pet trade, Siglos added.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reptiles are believed to be Philippine pond turtles, critically endangered species found only on Palawan, said Josefina de Leon, wildlife resources division chief of the environment ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has since 2000 listed the pond turtle -- a web-footed, freshwater creature that grows to about 21-centimetres (8.3-inches) long -- as "critically endangered".<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Known from only four specimens this species has acquired a mythical reputation that will make any further animals extremely valuable in the pet trade," the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species says.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hill mynahs and crested serpent-eagles are not considered endangered by the IUCN, but de Leon said the Philippine government classified them on its own list as "vulnerable".<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trafficking in critically endangered species such as the pond turtles is punishable by up to four years in jail and a 300,000-peso (7,059-dollar) fine, according to de Leon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trafficking in "vulnerable" species attracts lesser penalties.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">Source:<br /></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">AFP. (2011, August 18). </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;">Philippines holds three for turtle trafficking.</span></i><span lang="EN-SG" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-SG;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Retrieved September 08, 2011, from Yahoo News: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/philippines-holds-three-turtle-trafficking-090645515.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-1135709370005929382011-09-01T12:04:00.003+08:002011-09-01T12:06:18.933+08:00Sea turtle who had global following found dead<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"></span><br />
<div class="yom-figure yom-fig-center" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899417" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 630px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AinveIILCZNNmaQdF8TAsIJtzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTFiN2pzZDVyBG1pdANBcnRpY2xlIEhlYWQEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUhlYWQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTJyNzZwbTdiBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNmIyMWNlN2EtNjgzMC0zMjA0LWI2ZmYtMjY0MGIzYzlhOWE5BHBzdGNhdAN1cwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=0/SIG=116gih3gg/EXP=1316059258/**http%3A//www.ap.org/" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899507" rel="nofollow" style="color: #ff9900; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="AP" class="logo" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899506" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kjmVjizroQE0M3Nlej7hqQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9Mjc-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/logo/ap/ap_logo_106.png" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="" /></a><cite class="byline vcard" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899498" style="color: #7d7d7d; display: inline-block !important; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 2.2em; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap;">By <span class="fn" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899503">MATT SEDENSKY - Associated Press</span> </cite></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><cite class="byline vcard" style="color: #7d7d7d; display: inline-block !important; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 2.2em; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap;"> <span class="provider org">AP</span> – <abbr id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899497" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-variant: normal;" title="2011-08-25T18:20:39Z">Thu, Aug 25, 2011</abbr></cite></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><cite class="byline vcard" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899498" style="color: #7d7d7d; display: inline-block !important; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 2.2em; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap;"><abbr id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899497" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-variant: normal;" title="2011-08-25T18:20:39Z"><br />
</abbr></cite></span><br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/andre-the-turtle-1314290773-slideshow/" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899416" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="(AP photo/The Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters) - Click to see more images of Andre." class=" editorial" height="246" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899415" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Hl4hOGSWO4XEqssY7DN.RQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/80d18b24504dd011f40e6a706700248a.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block;" title="(AP photo/The Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters) - Click to see more images of Andre." width="400" /></a><br />
<div class="legend" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899445" style="color: #414141; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">(AP photo/The Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters)</div></div>WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Andre, a sea turtle who survived catastrophic injuries and underwent a year of rehabilitation and innovative surgeries, has been found dead, three weeks after he was released off the Florida coast.<br />
<div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899448" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Loggerhead Marinelife Center, which had cared for the turtle, said he was found Wednesday on Hutchinson Island. David McClymont, the center's president, said staffers were able to identify the turtle from a tag that had been placed on him, but he was in such bad condition they couldn't determine what killed him.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"The staff and the entire volunteer base are deeply saddened," he said Thursday.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Just three weeks ago, a raucous crowd of hundreds gathered to watch Andre crawl into the sea and swim away. Onlookers hugged, wiped away tears and talked of the inspiration the reptile gave them.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Amid the disappointment over the sea turtle's death, his caretakers said the herculean efforts they took to save Andre — including several procedures considered animal firsts — were already helping others.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"The scientific advancements we made while rehabilitating Andre are already being applied in the treatment of other threatened and endangered sea turtles," the center said in a statement.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">When Andre was found stranded on a sandbar on June 15, 2010, he had gaping holes in his shell, the result of two apparent boat strikes. More than three pounds of sand were inside him, along with at least a couple of crabs, a raging infection and a collapsed lung. His spinal cord was exposed, pneumonia was plaguing him and death seemed certain.</div><div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899471" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Any one of those injuries could have killed him, but his flippers were working and his neurological function appeared normal. So after beachgoers pulled him ashore on a boogie board, veterinarians began what became a yearlong effort to save him.</div><div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899474" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">To help remove fluid and other materials and close his wounds, doctors used a vacuum therapy system. To help close gashes in the shell, a local orthodontist installed braces similar to those used on humans. And to fill in the gaping holes, doctors employed a procedure typically used to help regrow breast tissue in mastectomy patients and abdominal tissue in hernia patients.</div><div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899477" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The turtle's story was followed by many of the 225,000 annual visitors to the center and through a round-the-clock webcam. Children flooded him with mail and checks flowed in from around the world to support his care.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Green sea turtles have persisted since prehistoric times, but are endangered today. Only a small fraction of hatchlings survive and even fewer go on to reach adulthood and reproduce.</div><div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899482" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">At 177 pounds when he was released, Andre was believed to be about 25 years old.</div><div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899482" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Source: </span></div><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/sea-turtle-had-global-following-found-dead-154941880.html">http://news.yahoo.com/sea-turtle-had-global-following-found-dead-154941880.html</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"></span><br />
<div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1314849622899482" style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-24179909009108649542011-08-25T12:07:00.001+08:002011-08-25T12:08:48.715+08:00Marine debris: biodiversity impacts and potential solutions<h1 class="entry-title five"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><img alt="Marine_debris_tedxgp3" data-id="2883" src="http://cdn.theconversation.edu.au/files/2883/width440/marine_debris_tedxgp3.jpg" /></span></h1><div class="image1" id="slot1"><div>Seals, turtles, sharks and dolphins are killed by abandoned fishing nets.</div></div>Pollution from human activities has major impact on the world’s marine ecosystems. Plastic refuse is one of the most pervasive types of pollution.<br />
<br />
More than 80 million tons of plastics are estimated to be produced globally each year. These plastics are durable, requiring about 500 years to decompose in the ocean. Their durability and buoyancy allows them to be carried far from their sources.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">Plastic gets into the ocean, into marine species and into us</span><br />
<br />
For instance, the ratio of plastic to zooplankton in the major ocean gyres, which tend to concentrate floating material, is estimated to be up to 6:1 by weight.<br />
<br />
Whales, fish and other marine species depend on zooplankton for food, as they are the fundamental link to the phytoplankton who the capture sun’s energy. Researchers currently believe plastics are taken up by zooplankton, thus entering the food chain.<br />
<br />
Plastics also bring toxins into the food chain. When plastics break down, they produce toxic products. They also aggregate pollutants in the environment. Both are released when animals digest the plastic.<br />
<br />
Globally more than 200 species are known to be affected by marine rubbish including whales, seals, dugong, seabirds, turtles, crabs, seasnakes, sharks, rays and other fish.<br />
<br />
<div><img alt="Rubbish" src="http://cdn.theconversation.edu.au/files/2884/width440/marine_debris_tedxgp2.jpg" /><br />
<div>When plastics break down, they produce toxic products. (tedxgp/Flickr)</div></div><br />
While many of these species are threatened, still others form part of our diet. This means that plastic ingested by wildlife not only affect them – their guts may be perforated and they may starve – but toxins from the plastics may also be absorbed by humans.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">Tangled up in blue</span><br />
<br />
Entanglement is also a significant threat to marine species. For example, up to 40,000 fur seals are killed each year when they get tangled in debris. This contributes to a population decline of 4-6% per year.<br />
<br />
Entanglement affects nearly all groups of marine vertebrates. We know that in Australian waters turtles, cetaceans, seals, sea lions, seabirds, sharks and rays, crabs and other animals are affected.<br />
<br />
Lost fishing gear and related refuse in particular is a major issue. Globally it is estimated that at least 6.4 million tons of commercial fishing gear is lost into the ocean each year.<br />
<br />
The Gulf of Carpentaria, at the top end of Australia, provides a stunning example of this. More than <a href="http://www.ghostnets.com.au/">8,000 derelict fishing nets</a> – which add up to 90,000 metres of net – have been cleaned up on beaches in the region.<br />
<br />
Our oceanographic modelling suggests that these nets drift over large areas of the region, likely impacting six of the world’s seven marine turtle species which occur there. Many other species are probably also affected, but decay before the nets wash ashore and are found.<br />
<br />
<h2>Where does it all come from and how did it get here?</h2><br />
Most importantly, despite recycling and other efforts, the problem is rapidly intensifying. Plastics production has grown 500% over the last 30 years. It is still increasing at a rate of 3-5% per year.<br />
<br />
The amount of plastic in the environment is increasing at an exponential rate. This suggests both total volume of production and failures to appropriately dispose of plastics are contributing to plastics into the environment. Shockingly, the highest average plastic count on record is 334,271 pieces per square kilometer – and this is from a survey completed more than a decade ago.<br />
<br />
Researchers are beginning to tackle this problem. They are trying to understand why plastics enter the environment, where they go once they are lost, and what impacts they have on marine species and ecosystems.<br />
<br />
<div><img alt="Kepler" src="http://cdn.theconversation.edu.au/files/2885/width440/marine_debris_2_tedxgp2.jpg" /><br />
<div>Encouraging people to recycle plastic bottles can make a real difference. (tedxgp/Flickr)</div></div><br />
In our research, for instance, we are assessing the marine debris that washes up on shores around Australia. We’re comparing types of marine rubbish in urban areas versus those in remote locations to identify likely domestic versus foreign contributions to marine debris.<br />
<br />
This work relies heavily upon the countless <a href="http://www.oceancare.org.au/site/">volunteers and community groups</a> that conduct beach clean ups in their area. It is an excellent example of the value of citizen scientists/volunteer collected data.<br />
<br />
We use these data with oceanographic models to track likely sources and sinks of marine rubbish through space and time. We see seasonal differences in marine rubbish washing up along the coastline, much of which is likely due to differences in ocean current patterns that differ at different times of the year. And we’re learning about what types of debris are <a href="http://wha-marinedebris.blogspot.com/">found near urban centers</a> (plastic bags, cigarette butts, sundry items) and in more remote areas (such as fishing gear off the west coast of Tasmania).<br />
<br />
<h2>How can we solve the problem?</h2>Tackling marine debris will require cultural change via a mix of education, incentives, and regulation. Plastic bottle recycling is an excellent example – it has increased every year since 1990 to 2.2 trillion pounds in 2006.<br />
<br />
Educational tools, such as the plastics identification code on bottles, provided essential knowledge for the public and increased participation. Bottle deposits, an economic incentive, resulted in a 75% reduction in losses into the environment. Regulations, such as recent prohibitions on disposable drink bottles may further reduce the problem.<br />
<br />
However, our lack of information makes it hard to target education, incentives and regulation. Linking plastic in the environment to particular factories, stores, fishers or consumers is currently impossible. This means that our tools for cultural change must be broadly targeted, while losses into the environment are likely due to an irresponsible minority, as in many other types of pollution.<br />
<br />
Human behaviour needs to change from the current throwaway culture being status quo, and accountability is a fundamental ingredient in this change.<br />
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This article was originally published at <a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/">The Conversation</a>.<br />
<br />
Authors: <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Britta Denise Hardesty</span><br />
<h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Research Scientist, Ecosystem Sciences at </span><a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/institutions/csiro" style="color: #006699; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">CSIRO</a></span></h2><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 36px;">Chris Wilcox</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Senior Research Scientist at </span><a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/institutions/csiro" style="color: #006699; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">CSIRO</a></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-13080808406636972322011-08-15T02:27:00.002+08:002011-08-15T02:35:10.106+08:00Baby Sea Turtles Attacked<embed allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="slug=turtles-baby-predation&img=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/media/turtles-baby-predation/turtles-baby-predation_480x360.jpg&vtitle=Baby%20Sea%20Turtles%20Attacked&caption=When%20sea%20turtles%20hatch,%20they're%20vulnerable%20as%20they%20make%20their%20way%20to%20the%20sea.%20Birds%20and%20other%20predators%20know%20it,%20and%20have%20no%20trouble%20picking%20up%20a%20quick%20meal.&permalink=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/reptiles-animals/turtles-and-tortoises/turtles-baby-predation.html&share=true" height="321" name="flashObj" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" seamlesstabbing="false" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/video/swf/ngplayer_syndicated.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="460"></embed><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Source: </span></em><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span lang="EN-GB">National </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;">Geographic (n.d.). Baby Sea Turtles Attacked. Retrieved August 14, 2011, from National Geographic: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/reptiles-animals/turtles-and-tortoises/turtles-baby-predation.html<o:p></o:p></span></em><span lang="EN-GB"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Less than 1% of the hatchlings actually made it to adulthood. "</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let us not deny the hatchlings their already slim chance of surviving into adulthood, by not eating turtles eggs and not throwing litters indiscriminately into the sea today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Protect the eggs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stop littering.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And pass on the message of conservation to the people around you.</span><br />
<br />
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-9440578512673365262011-08-10T21:42:00.003+08:002011-08-10T21:47:21.190+08:00Turtle crisis looms for Great Barrier Reef<strong></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="243" src="http://assets.panda.org/img/turtle_2_355257.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Hawksbill turtles are threatened from fishing activities and international trade. - © WWF-Canon / Cat Holloway" width="304" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="caption hover" jquery152067770307105336="84" style="display: block;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hawksbill turtles are threatened from fishing activities and international trade.</span></strong></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><strong style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Queensland, Australia: </strong>WWF has received numerous reports from aboriginal groups on the north-eastern coast of Australia of large numbers of sick, starving and dead turtles washing up on beaches. The reports come following the loss of sea grasses after Cyclone Yasi and floods hit the area back in February. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="23" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The increase in turtle deaths for April may be more than five times higher this year compared to the same time last year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="25" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“If these numbers are accurate, then this is a shocking development for the </span><span apture="true" aptureproxy="12" id="apture_prvw1" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"><a aptureized="true" aptureproxy="13" class=" snap_noshots" href="http://wwf.panda.org/?201274/Turtle-crisis-looms-for-Great-Barrier-Reef#" style="border-bottom: #06c 1px dotted; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; borderbottomleftradius: 2px 2px; borderbottomrightradius: 2px 2px; bordertopleftradius: 2px 2px; bordertoprightradius: 2px 2px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.cur), default; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: -1px; width: auto; zoom: 1;"><span aptureproxy="14" style="background-color: #e0e6ec; border-bottom: #06c 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; borderbottomleftradius: 2px 2px; borderbottomrightradius: 2px 2px; bordertopleftradius: 2px 2px; bordertoprightradius: 2px 2px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: 100%; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: 0px; width: 0%;"></span><span aptureproxy="15" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: auto; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: 1px; width: auto;">Great Barrier Reef</span></a><span aptureproxy="16" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: auto; line-height: 1px; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">” said WWF’s Conservation on Country Manager Cliff Cobbo. “We urgently need clarification from the Queensland Government on how many turtles are being found dead along the Great Barrier Reef coast”. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turtle hospitals in Townsville, Queensland are being overwhelmed with sick and starving animals and do not have the resources to handle the number of turtles expected to need emergency care over the next 18 months. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some local aboriginal groups have been so concerned by what they are seeing they plan to suspend issuing hunting permits within their saltwater country. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CEO of the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, Phil Rist, said large numbers of dead turtles and </span><a aptureproxy="32" href="http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/harry_potter_top_10/dugongs.cfm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dugongs</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> had been found in recent weeks and that strandings are occurring on a weekly basis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="34" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong aptureproxy="35">Numerous threats</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="37" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWF believes recent extreme weather events like Cyclone Yasi and the Queensland floods, together with threats such as entanglement in fishing nets, water pollution and large-scale coastal developments have led to this increase in deaths.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="39" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“In the past turtles have been healthy enough to deal with extreme weather events, but the combined pressure of more fishing nets, declining water quality and associated disease, on top of the loss of critical habitats as a result of large coastal developments have all undermined their chances of survival,” Cobbo said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWF is calling on both sides of Queensland politics to commit to building greater resilience in populations of threatened marine species on the Great Barrier Reef through reforming net fisheries, reducing land-based pollution on the reef, and better managing large coastal developments. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="43" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong aptureproxy="44">WWF’s Global Marine Turtle Programme</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six of the seven species of marine turtle are classified as endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and </span><span apture="true" aptureproxy="54" id="apture_prvw2" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"><a aptureized="true" aptureproxy="55" class=" snap_noshots" href="http://wwf.panda.org/?201274/Turtle-crisis-looms-for-Great-Barrier-Reef#" style="border-bottom: #06c 1px dotted; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; borderbottomleftradius: 2px 2px; borderbottomrightradius: 2px 2px; bordertopleftradius: 2px 2px; bordertoprightradius: 2px 2px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; cursor: url(http://cdn.apture.com/media/imgs/crsr/socialLink.cur), default; display: inline; float: none; height: auto; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: -1px; width: auto; zoom: 1;"><span aptureproxy="56" style="background-color: #e0e6ec; border-bottom: #06c 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; borderbottomleftradius: 2px 2px; borderbottomrightradius: 2px 2px; bordertopleftradius: 2px 2px; bordertoprightradius: 2px 2px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: 100%; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: 0px; width: 0%;"></span><span aptureproxy="57" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: auto; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: 1px; width: auto;">Natural Resources</span></a><span aptureproxy="58" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; clear: none; cssfloat: none; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: auto; line-height: 1px; margin: 0px; outline-color: invert; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static; text-decoration: none; width: auto;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (IUCN).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="48" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWF has been working on marine turtle conservation for nearly 50 years and has provided a </span><a aptureproxy="49" href="http://assets.panda.org/downloads/wwfmarineturtlestrategy.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global Marine Turtle Strategy</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to outline WWF priorities for marine turtle conservation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br aptureproxy="51" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The benefits of saving marine turtles go far beyond simply protecting these remarkable species. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conservation efforts will make fisheries more sustainable and provide benefits to small communities and with marine turtles becoming increasingly important as an ecotourism attraction, a live turtle is worth more than a dead turtle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Green sea turtle. Zanzibar Island. Tanzania" height="207" src="http://assets.panda.org/img/greenseaturtle_14192_350885.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) - © Martin HARVEY / WWF-Canon" width="304" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="caption hover" jquery152067770307105336="85" style="display: block;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)</span></div></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWF. (2011, August 10). <i>Turtle crisis looms for Great Barrier Reef</i>. Retrieved August 10, 2011, from WWF Global: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://wwf.panda.org/?201274/Turtle-crisis-looms-for-Great-Barrier-Reef </span></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-37289542208340869462011-08-03T22:01:00.004+08:002011-08-03T22:23:03.813+08:00Ban turtle eggs trade in Malaysia WWF - Channel NewsAsia<div class="header"><span class="update"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="A handler holds up a green sea turtle at the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre in Rantau Abang in eastern Terengganu state. (AFP file photo)" height="200" id="_Ath_Slide" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpeOZP0O.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="_Ath_FileName" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A handler holds up a green sea turtle at the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre in Rantau Abang in eastern Terengganu state. (AFP file photo)</span></td></tr>
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<span name="advenueINTEXT" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KUALA LUMPUR : Conservationists Wednesday urged Malaysia to impose a national ban on the trade and consumption of turtle eggs to ensure the survival of the marine creatures.<br />
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Turtles once arrived in their thousands to lay eggs on Malaysian beaches but are now increasingly rare due to poaching and coastal development.<br />
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"WWF-Malaysia continues its call for a comprehensive ban on the consumption and trade of turtle eggs of all marine turtle species to ensure the survival of these majestic creatures," Environmental group WWF-Malaysia said in statement.<br />
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With no national ban on eating turtle eggs, they are sold openly in eastern Terengganu state where only the sale of leatherback turtle eggs is not permitted, the group said.<br />
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Turtle eggs are are also available elsewhere in the country.<br />
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WWF said contrary to popular belief most people consider the eggs a "delicacy" and eat them for pleasure, not as a source of protein or for their reputed medicinal or aphrodisiac effects.<br />
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- AFP/ir </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: </span><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;">Ban turtle eggs trade in Malaysia: WWF</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;">. (2011, August 3). Retrieved August 3, 2011, from Channel NewsAsia: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/lifestylenews/view/1144785/1/.html </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><sdtpr></sdtpr></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-79136577298254368912011-07-20T10:59:00.000+08:002011-07-20T10:59:55.021+08:00The saviour of the terrapins<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><h3 id="story_date" style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Article originally published by: </span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wfV4MogDzg8/TiZEVlYapcI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/y3hc-lTKqqY/s1600/logo_tsolv12.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wfV4MogDzg8/TiZEVlYapcI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/y3hc-lTKqqY/s1600/logo_tsolv12.gif" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</div><h3 id="story_date" style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wednesday July 20, 2011</span></h3><h1 id="story_title" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 35px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The saviour of the te<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">rrapins</span></span></h1><h2 id="story_byline" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">By FARIK ZOLKEPLI<br />
<a href="mailto:farik@thestar.com.my" style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">farik@thestar.com.my</a></h2><div style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</div></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bAxGv1u7E60/TiZCJN6WBmI/AAAAAAAAAMM/XBe3p_Oo-80/s1600/n_3terra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bAxGv1u7E60/TiZCJN6WBmI/AAAAAAAAAMM/XBe3p_Oo-80/s320/n_3terra.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold;">Family passion: Arbi and his son Ashraf checking the turtle eggs at the hatchery in Kuala Baharu Selatan.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">SETIU: It is a wild, wild life for forest ranger Arbi Ngah whose “resume” includes being chased by a wild boar and wrestling with monitor lizards.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">“I was once pursued by a wild boar whose snout reached my waist. I had to climb a coconut tree to avoid being gored but I could only climb a few metres as a fellow ranger had already climbed the tree before me,” he said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Despite such a “macho” job, 41-year-old Arbi has a soft spot for the critically endangered painted terrapins.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Arbi patrols Kuala Baharu Selatan, a sanctuary for terrapins. He safeguards the terrapins' eggs from poachers and wild animals.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><b>*Full story in <i>The Star </i>today</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Source:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F7%2F20%2Fnation%2F20110720065042&sec=nation">http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F7%2F20%2Fnation%2F20110720065042&sec=nation</a></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-50401535072954278722011-07-09T14:02:00.000+08:002011-07-09T14:02:34.934+08:00Turtle volunteering on Perhentian Island, MalaysiaDear readers!<br />
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The following is a website that engages holiday makers with turtle conservation work as well. Why this is being shared is because WWF-Malaysia @ Kampung Mangkuk is being mentioned as well as the local women's group which we know is the PEWANIS. These two groups of people worked very closely with Project Orion III during our two weeks at Terengganu and are still fondly missed :D<br />
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Website: <a href="http://www.responsibletravel.com/holiday/5589/turtle-volunteering-on-perhentian-island-malaysia">http://www.responsibletravel.com/holiday/5589/turtle-volunteering-on-perhentian-island-malaysia</a><br />
from 'responsibletravel.com'<br />
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This is one organization who provides volunteering trips for people like you and I. The following paragraph is taken from one of their webpage:<br />
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<i>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana;">We provide training and education to locals on conservation, ecotourism and English skills, enabling them to develop useful skills and encourage them to protect their environment. We work in joint partnership with the local government and community to build long-term relationships based on trust and mutual respect. Our projects are long-term, helping to secure a sustainable livelihood, create local pride and avoid dependency in the local community. We contribute volunteer costs to local conservation projects, and raise money for them. Our local presence and cultural understanding allow us to create volunteer cultural awareness amongst volunteers and allows us to be welcomed into the host community."</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana;">May this be something new for some of us to learn or use as reference. Please feel free to leave comments or questions in our chabox if you would like to and we will get back to you.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana;">Have a pleasant weekend ahead! :)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana;">Best regards</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana;">Project Orion III</span><br />
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</span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-20086570603028308762011-07-01T12:21:00.024+08:002011-07-07T09:46:28.764+08:00Home Sweet Home!Project Orion III returned to Singapore only on the 1st July, instead of the 30th June due to an unforeseen circumstance. We arrived back to Singapore safely in the morning of 1st July. The team went to HQ first to sort out what needed sorting like Logistics who were counting the merchandise that were brought back as well as the distribution of Banana Kerepek amongst members.<br />
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From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each and every one of you for your support and encouragements during the expedition project. We may have returned from the expedition but this blog will still be updated with information about Turtle conservation articles,etc.<br />
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Once again, thank you very much for your support and do feel free to leave a message or question for us in our chatbox and we will get back to you as soon as possible :)<br />
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Good day ahead, everyone.<br />
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Yours sincerely<br />
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Project Orion IIIAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-75070957945012158922011-06-29T20:07:00.022+08:002011-07-07T09:53:21.124+08:00Last Night @ Kampung MangkukTonight is the last night the team will spend at Kampung Mangkuk and we have been packing since we arrived back at the Pink House this late afternoon. Project Orion III has thus been successfully carried out and we are happy yet reluctant to leave this place after such meaningful two weeks.<br />
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Dinner at Kak Ta's place was the livest of all nights where most of the rangers and their families as well as members of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) whom we have been working closely with, were present. All of us ate together and spent quite a bit of time chatting with one another, knowing that this is the last night we have at Kampung Mangkuk. After which, we headed back to the Pink House and retire for the night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-89631940949363486382011-06-28T18:00:00.000+08:002011-07-01T16:21:19.724+08:00Rest & Relax @ Pulau Lang Tengah! (Day 12-14)<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By the 11<sup>th</sup> day – 26<sup>th</sup> June, Project Orion III completed all objectives of this expedition project! After the huge BBQ meal graciously prepared by PEWANIS, the team retired for the night to prepare for the next phase of the trip- our R&R at Pulau Lang Tengah! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We departed on the 27<sup>th</sup> June and arrived at Pulau Lang Tengah after a 45 minutes Boat Ride. We had lunch shortly after we arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The resort was truly a treat for the team and we even attempted Snorkelling on the second day we were at Pulau Lang Tengah. The following are some photos of the resort as well as our Snorkelling activities! </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jetty @ Pulau Lang Tengah</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the swimming pool @ Pulau Lang Tengah!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f_wyT7nnOaY/Tg2CcAnTe_I/AAAAAAAAAIs/Kk1hwwcKS58/s1600/DSC_0810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f_wyT7nnOaY/Tg2CcAnTe_I/AAAAAAAAAIs/Kk1hwwcKS58/s320/DSC_0810.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A scenic shot by Violet!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2YoXEBMVUDI/Tg2Cc7gG4eI/AAAAAAAAAIw/JPQrSqAYuH4/s1600/DSC01349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2YoXEBMVUDI/Tg2Cc7gG4eI/AAAAAAAAAIw/JPQrSqAYuH4/s320/DSC01349.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Project Orion III (except Hamida) S-N-O-R-K-E-L-L-I-N-G! :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-syPw921pf50/Tg2CdqCyXQI/AAAAAAAAAI0/TS1JQwO9a1A/s1600/DSC01396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-syPw921pf50/Tg2CdqCyXQI/AAAAAAAAAI0/TS1JQwO9a1A/s320/DSC01396.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Left) Gladys and Sharon (Right) under-water :D</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-46lHtWNqedI/Tg2CeFwsc-I/AAAAAAAAAI4/Nnb0IIFGAMU/s1600/DSC01405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-46lHtWNqedI/Tg2CeFwsc-I/AAAAAAAAAI4/Nnb0IIFGAMU/s320/DSC01405.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Violet coming out from the waters, back onto the boat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">The following ‘Eat. Sleep. Dive’ was imprinted on a T-shirt which Eddy bought it at one of the stalls by the roads at the jetty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically what we did during R&R were the above. It summarizes the entire stay at D’Coconut :D</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWHp8eQKOFU/Tg2Cv_XF1qI/AAAAAAAAAI8/9Kmbk1J4p9A/s1600/IMG_2276+%2528336x448%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWHp8eQKOFU/Tg2Cv_XF1qI/AAAAAAAAAI8/9Kmbk1J4p9A/s320/IMG_2276+%2528336x448%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">On the 29<sup>th</sup> June, we returned to Kampong Mungkuk – The Pink House for the last night of the trip and we will depart from here to the airport tomorrow at 1400 hours.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We are coming home tomorrow! There will be a final post from Seitu, Terengganu before we return. Stay tuned & once again, thank you for reading! </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-73168197462374685522011-06-26T11:00:00.002+08:002011-07-01T23:50:23.092+08:00Day 11 - 26 June<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The brown paint has finally arrived today!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Thus, we continued painting the Pink House right after lunch while grooving to the music from Abang Jackson’s iphone. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ej-XDo_Aj4I/Tg3qkWdqKII/AAAAAAAAAJc/1u6Xn_r50dI/s1600/IMG_0445+%2528640x427%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ej-XDo_Aj4I/Tg3qkWdqKII/AAAAAAAAAJc/1u6Xn_r50dI/s320/IMG_0445+%2528640x427%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The highlight of today’s programme was the BBQ night. In the evening while we were still painting, the villagers came down to the Pink House to start preparing for the main event, and bringing along coconuts for us to drink. At the same time, Hamida, Jason and Jian Hui came back from Caltex with the following items – childhood tibits!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OhKs-ds_ehU/Tg3qqINCRLI/AAAAAAAAAJg/6ctvtxelZCQ/s1600/DSC_0479+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OhKs-ds_ehU/Tg3qqINCRLI/AAAAAAAAAJg/6ctvtxelZCQ/s320/DSC_0479+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wkqm5Cidrj4/Tg3qqv7iIsI/AAAAAAAAAJk/k1HyAjFIkOg/s1600/DSC_0480+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wkqm5Cidrj4/Tg3qqv7iIsI/AAAAAAAAAJk/k1HyAjFIkOg/s320/DSC_0480+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While waiting for the BBQ to start, we played with the toy found in the tibits and reminisced about our childhood under the coconut tree outside the Pink House. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The sun has finally set and it was time to party! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All the kids were hyped up, and were especially excited over getting the lightsticks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the adults were busy preparing the food and drinks. The coconut drink with vanilla ice-cream was simply heavenly. It was soothing on the throat and complemented well with the barbequed food. For main course, we had mee siam goreng (fried vermicelli), barbequed ayam (chicken) in satay marinated sauce and different kinds of ikan (fish). </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tekhShxK2mI/Tg3rHc_KIFI/AAAAAAAAAJo/WDKHmMW9zsM/s1600/DSC_0553+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tekhShxK2mI/Tg3rHc_KIFI/AAAAAAAAAJo/WDKHmMW9zsM/s320/DSC_0553+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ailif was kind of like the centre of attention as most of us were desperately trying to cajole him into returning to his normal self. All of us heaved a sigh of relief when he started his sgnism (pranks and antics) once again.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a3sE2f63uV8/Tg3rQJehkOI/AAAAAAAAAJs/A0hKiLMxo9Y/s1600/DSC_0580+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a3sE2f63uV8/Tg3rQJehkOI/AAAAAAAAAJs/A0hKiLMxo9Y/s320/DSC_0580+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We had fun taking a lot of pictures with the villagers and WWF staffs in different poses; Hamida’s pose and Tira’s pose to name a few. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hamida's Pose!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x8izUrxEeB4/Tg3sAazE0pI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/ZecM9j1uScU/s1600/IMG_2179+%2528640x480%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x8izUrxEeB4/Tg3sAazE0pI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/ZecM9j1uScU/s320/IMG_2179+%2528640x480%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tira's Pose!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TErSxqr3M8g/Tg3sXgGq-QI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/nOTpln3Ass0/s1600/DSC_0588+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TErSxqr3M8g/Tg3sXgGq-QI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/nOTpln3Ass0/s320/DSC_0588+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abang Bi's Pose! (Rocker) :D</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was definitely an eventful night, especially for our Team Leader, who broke his pants while playing with the kids and conveniently used Asyraf to cover up the lobang (hole) in his pants!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vTN3cc_6g7E/Tg3snVuk6kI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/KV-q0zVvvqc/s1600/IMG_2233+%2528640x480%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vTN3cc_6g7E/Tg3snVuk6kI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/KV-q0zVvvqc/s320/IMG_2233+%2528640x480%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The BBQ was a true display of the kampung spirit where everyone just gather together to eat and catch up with one another or simply to relax and enjoy each other’s company for the night. It was definitely a fun-filled night with plenty of laughter from the kids and the team. And I am sure all of us from the team will forever have this memory deeply etched in our hearts for a long long time to come. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cheers!</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-42670657168889477712011-06-25T23:33:00.001+08:002011-07-02T00:14:16.658+08:00Day 10 - 25 June 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">25 June 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Greetings from Setiu! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Look at how fast time flies! It is already our tenth day in Kampong Mangkuk and we had completed 99% of work which we set off to do. The remaining 1% to be done is the painting of (the brown parts of) The Pink House, which we could only do tomorrow when the paint arrives. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As such, the objective of today’s programme was to experience the way of living and culture of Terengganu. Our ever so warm and friendly hosts, Kak Tak and Abang Lan drove us around and took us to our various destinations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First stop of the day was the Watermelon Farm. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fZMmJEp2QKo/Tg3vgz_QbBI/AAAAAAAAAKE/j3OkDM7EkEU/s1600/DSC_0335+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fZMmJEp2QKo/Tg3vgz_QbBI/AAAAAAAAAKE/j3OkDM7EkEU/s320/DSC_0335+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We had freshly plucked watermelon to quench our thirst immediately upon arrival. Everyone, especially the children, were happy to be chomping on the juicy sweet watermelons under the scorching morning sun. One of the farmers taught us to differentiate between the reds and yellows – yellow watermelons are darker in colour compared to the red ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After which, the team got down to their hands and harvested half a row of watermelons. As usual, we had fun and joke around while doing work! It is amazing how we went from strangers to good friends in a mere span of a week. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Our next destination was Permaisuri Market, which sells practically everything (imagine an al fresco departmental store)!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The first thing we did was to get a cup of drink each! The ice blended yam milkshake was simply the perfect solution to cool down in the warm weather. As we proceed further into the market, we bought an assortment of kueh kueh, fried fermented tapioca and deep fried potato. We also bought lemon grass, lime and chili padi to prepare the sauce for the clams we dug from the mangrove the day before. Kak Tak’s children, Tira and Makwang, who followed us to the market, also did quite a lot of shopping for themselves. The team took Makwang to buy a fighting fish, where he finally settled for a turquoise coloured one after carefully scrutinizing all the other fishes on display. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Am8Ax8oTyak/Tg3yJdO2WtI/AAAAAAAAAKc/Vb9b4yCoMlo/s1600/DSC_0428+%2528425x640%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Am8Ax8oTyak/Tg3yJdO2WtI/AAAAAAAAAKc/Vb9b4yCoMlo/s320/DSC_0428+%2528425x640%2529.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">In the market, we came across a stall selling turtles eggs, however we did not see any one buying any eggs from the stalls. Later in a conversation with Brendon (WWF staff), we found out that there are strict laws in place with regards to turtle conservation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">For lunch, we had Laksam and Nasi Dageng, which are both traditional Terengganu food. It was a simple yet sumptuous meal! In addition, we also feast on tropical fruits such as longan, lychee and buah salak.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4_XqjPq_YM/Tg3xwB9cKTI/AAAAAAAAAKM/04n8AWDV9ZI/s1600/DSC_0401+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4_XqjPq_YM/Tg3xwB9cKTI/AAAAAAAAAKM/04n8AWDV9ZI/s320/DSC_0401+%2528640x425%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Food galore aside, we gathered at the Pink House to start our Wau (kite) making session. Everyone, including River, was meticulous in following the instructions of Abang Lan and Abang Zul so as to make a kite that is able to fly. It was a tiring session but when we saw our kites flying up high in the sky, we knew the effort put in was all worth it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-45215830685174263712011-06-24T11:26:00.031+08:002011-06-26T12:06:09.947+08:00Project Orion 3 - Day 9<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">Today, we woke up early at 0630 for mangrove replanting. Abang Lan was tasked to fetch the few of us from the Pink House to Kuala Baru. Upon arrival, we saw the rest of our team mates who were out since last night for beach patrol. We had the company of the Pewanis Group and the Malaysia Scouts and Brownies to join us for this activity. First we had to unload the mangrove plants ‘Bakau’ from the lorry before transferring to the planting site. Each plant was wrapped in a black plastic cover at the bottom which we had to tear it off before planting. Then, we planted the mangrove plants along the stretch of Kuala Baru and each plant was well spaced apart with a distance of about 1m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The procedure was to dig a hole using a spade and place the plant into the hole and tie it together with a supporting wooden pole. The kids were having so much fun by helping us to carry the plants around. After planting all the mangroves, our team leader Eddy decided to dig for clams. The rest of the team joined him and never did we expect to bring back a full bag of clams for our supper. We headed towards the gazebo to enjoy our sumptuous lunch which was prepared by the Pewanis group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
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</div> After lunch, we headed back to the Pink House for our next activity – ‘Kerepek’ Making. The ‘kerepek’ are actually fried banana chips which are used to raise funds for the Pawanis group.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkobBGYv-Ck/TgaomrOrPNI/AAAAAAAAAHE/l0dg7FugS5c/s1600/DSC01160+%2528640x360%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkobBGYv-Ck/TgaomrOrPNI/AAAAAAAAAHE/l0dg7FugS5c/s320/DSC01160+%2528640x360%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The first process is to skin off the banana. Next, we cut each piece of banana into thin slices. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Then, we coat the banana slices with rice flour, sugar, honey, and salt. Lastly, we deep fry the coated banana slices until it turns golden brown. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P_KbBBOUPKk/TgaphH7RV_I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/FQKIbZgRsvA/s1600/DSC01169+%2528640x360%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P_KbBBOUPKk/TgaphH7RV_I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/FQKIbZgRsvA/s320/DSC01169+%2528640x360%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">After clearing up all the mess that we made in the kitchen, there was some time for all of us to relax till dinner time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After dinner at Kah Tar’s place, we made our way to the boat jetty. It was our chance to see fireflies on the boat. Even though it was raining, we tried our best to keep a look out for them. At the end of the boat ride, we headed back to Kah Tar’s place before getting a lift back from Abang Lan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-31781702575306557492011-06-23T23:11:00.004+08:002011-06-26T14:56:59.684+08:00Day 8: Happy Happy Day!<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Hello folks! Hope your day has been awesome! This is Gladys here! Day 8 has been a great and sunny day for Project Orion III! The weather today was sunny and big fluffy clouds filled the sky with occasional winds which cooled the air. The team finished the work needed to be done at Hatchery! In addition, we gave the Pink House a new coat of paint and it looks so bright and even pink-er now! :P<o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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As Gladys, Shawn, Violet and Jian Hui had beach patrol last night and hence they rested till lunch time. As for the rest, they headed to the Hatchery to complete the work to be done which includes painting the Singapore Scout Association logo as well as World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s logo.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E8k1Ajk7wXw/TgbUXkI0z3I/AAAAAAAAAHU/Q5__Wsq1pJo/s1600/DSC01125+%2528252x448%2529+%2528252x448%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E8k1Ajk7wXw/TgbUXkI0z3I/AAAAAAAAAHU/Q5__Wsq1pJo/s320/DSC01125+%2528252x448%2529+%2528252x448%2529.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_gmzmRTOSAw/TgbUlatGzwI/AAAAAAAAAHY/TQk0rmsd6rM/s1600/DSC01130+%2528252x448%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_gmzmRTOSAw/TgbUlatGzwI/AAAAAAAAAHY/TQk0rmsd6rM/s320/DSC01130+%2528252x448%2529.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">The entire team gathered at Kak Ta’s place for lunch and after which, we head back to the Pink House for house painting. The girls cleaned the walls and the guys gave them a fresh coat of paint. The house now looks really superb. We managed to give all walls a new coat of paint but the frames of windows and doors are yet to be re-painted as the color has yet to be decided. Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable afternoon painting the house while singing along to songs played on fellow team members’ music players (:<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Before dinnertime, the kids came over and we played some games with them since we had already finished painting the walls by then. One epic moment of the day was I lost a badminton match with Asyraf by the score 0-15. That mischievous boy ended every single serve that I made by hitting the shuttlecock down on the ground at my feet and then happily announced each score with a huge smile on his face! He was still gloating at his triumph and never fail to remind me whenever I see him throughout dinnertime! :D</span></div></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_gmzmRTOSAw/TgbUlatGzwI/AAAAAAAAAHY/TQk0rmsd6rM/s1600/DSC01130+%2528252x448%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vVGzx8bCHWA/TgbUxE5IN6I/AAAAAAAAAHc/NUHsQjBHyPI/s1600/IMG_2079+%2528336x448%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vVGzx8bCHWA/TgbUxE5IN6I/AAAAAAAAAHc/NUHsQjBHyPI/s320/IMG_2079+%2528336x448%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That is not all though…Today is team member Hamida’s birthday! The team feigned ignorance to this special day for her and none of us wished her at all. However, we were hatching plans in our mind as to how we can surprise Hamida and celebrate her birthday! In the end, we decided to catch Hamida by surprise by throwing flour at her when she makes her way to Kak Ta’s place for dinner! The kids joined in the fun and Hamida and gang arrived at Kak Ta’s house with flour all over their face and clothes! :P In addition, we surprised her further by presenting her with a cake after dinner and everyone in the house sang her a birthday song! Hamida then made a wish and cut the cake with well wishes from Kak Ta and family, Ah Bang Bi & family as well as members from WWF who were all present at Kak Ta’s house. We all shared the cake and had some fun when we went around applying chocolate cream onto someone else’s face! :P</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xtx2i3DHT18/TgbVpwA021I/AAAAAAAAAHs/HgNjLdavoHE/s1600/IMG_2119+%2528448x336%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xtx2i3DHT18/TgbVpwA021I/AAAAAAAAAHs/HgNjLdavoHE/s320/IMG_2119+%2528448x336%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">POIII wishes you a Happy Birthday, Hamida! (:</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Last but not least, Violet, Shawn and Jian Hui will embark on their final beach patrol and let’s wish them all the best in seeing turtles tonight! Meanwhile, the rest of the team will rest for tomorrow’s exciting day ahead which will include mangrove re-planting too! Stay tuned for more updates! </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Sweet dreams everyone! (:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Gladys<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-59101630311176256822011-06-22T23:54:00.003+08:002011-06-26T15:08:24.132+08:0022 June 2011 (Day 7)Good day to all!! Day 7 of the trip and the team is still going strong!! Team Orion started the day with only 3 members as the others were resting after the beach patrol the previous night.<br />
Sighting: 1 Green Turtle at Telaga Papan (By Sharon, Sijie and Jason.) This is the first time in 3 years that our advisor Sijie has seen the turtle during the beach patrol. Congrats SJ!!!<br />
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Hatchery Painting<br />
We had Shawn, Gladys and Hamida at the hatchery at Penarik Inn to start painting the hut. A new blue and white coat of paint has made the hatchery hut look better than before!!! Of course, with the help of Azam, one of the WWF staff, the team managed to finish the painting pretty quickly :)<br />
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Painting house 1<br />
The painting started off after lunch when the rest of the team was deployed to the location to continue from where we left out on Monday. Under the company of the children from the neighboring houses, the environment was kept very lively and some of us even started singing to keep everyone entertained! We even arranged a K-Box session after the trip!<br />
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Storm before dinner<br />
The weather suddenly changed for the worse while on our way back to the Pink House. We experienced strong winds and rain that attempted to flood the front of the Pink House. Luckily the water went under the house and into the sand. When we found that Shawn and Gladys are still not back from the hatchery, we “choose” Jian Hui to cycle towards the hatchery to look for them. Halfway through the journey, he turned back and below are his comments:” When I am halfway there, I saw that whatever in front of me was black. I was thinking if I should continue to go ahead.. hahaha” We were finally relieved when all our members returned safely :)<br />
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Visitors from the West<br />
During dinner, we had 3 Caucasians joining us at Kak Ta’s place. We had Daniel, who is currently doing a conservation project in Pulau Perhantian, Mike, a masters research student from South England and Nicole Rose, a volunteer from California, US. During the conversation with them, we found that Daniel has been working on the project for about 6 years and he works with students from Alan Smith School to provide weekly English lessons, as well as create awareness for conservation of the environment. Nicole is a middle school Mathematics teacher in the States. Something interesting about her is that she volunteers herself in overseas projects every summer. Teachers in Singapore, time to consider doing so!!!<br />
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Day 7 has been a very eventful day, not forgetting Sharon, who has been our main source of entertainment so far. Stay tuned to our blog for more updates :):)<br />
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Signed off,<br />
Jason (Jayturtle)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-16352935449996299472011-06-21T22:00:00.001+08:002011-06-26T10:49:31.462+08:00Day 6: Busy Day!Hello turtle folks! The 21st June was a very busy day for all of us. First of all, those who went on Patrol last night took a half day rest till lunch before they joined the rest of the team for the day's activities. As such, Sijie, Gladys and Jason proceeded to House No. 2 for re-painting. With the few hours after breakfast till Lunchtime, the 3 of them finished painting the first coat, also known as the undercoat for the house. On the other hand, Violet and Eddy were at the neighborhood school finishing up on the Mural Painting. It is very very nice! Below are a couple of shots taken of the mural!<br />
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After lunch, the entire team went back to the Pink House for a 30 mins rest and to change into our Scout Uniform. We were going to the school to conduct some activities for the Scouts there! The couple of hours spent with them certainly made all of our days with their adorable faces and energetic vibe! We taught them the Onion Yell, clapping tactics which include the Scout Clap, as well as played games like Dog & Bone with them! The following are some photos we took during the couple of hours!<br />
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With that, we rushed back to the Pink House again and proceeded to do another round of nest excavation at the Hatchery. This was a chance for Violet, Eddy and Shawn to give a try at nest excavation as the first time the team did was when the trio went to the neighborhood school to discuss about the Mural Painting. What was unexpected was that we managed to view a hatching process! A neighboring nest had its hatchings out and we all stayed behind to watch them come out! Photos are with a few who are out on patrol now. Stay tuned for the photos then!<br />
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Good night and thank you for reading!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-88172933561946667582011-06-20T23:30:00.002+08:002011-06-22T01:20:24.121+08:00Day 5 : Super Hot Day!<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Greetings from Setiu once again! Painting for the team continues today. The team were divided into 3 groups for work today:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Group 1: Eddy, Violet and Shawn </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Group 2: Sijie, Sharon and Jian Hui</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Group 3: Gladys, Jason and Hamida</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Group 1 was all geared up in their Scout uniform to meet the school principal. They started their painting thereafter. Their work attracted attention by the students in Sekolah Mangkuk and many of them were around the mural area during recess. They manage to complete about 90% of the mural painting for the day. Good job guys! :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Group 2 started off in the morning to continue with paint works at House 2. They had to touch up the doors and windows of the house. The house owner, Cik Rafeah also requested for paintings to be done at the inner part of the windows and door. The group manage to complete the painting before lunch as well. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Group 3 started work only after lunch as they were resting in the morning after their beach patrolling. Group 3 combined with group 2 to repair and replace the zinc roof of House 2. It was a challenge to the groups as this is the first time the group members had to replace a roof top. The heat from the scorching sun also slowed our prodess. However, with the help and advise of Abg Lan and Zul, the roof was successfully replaced with 7 new sets of zinc plates. Cik Rafeah was very pleased and grateful for the team to give her a new coat of paint to the house and also new roof top. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Gladys and Sharon also completed the painting works to the signboards for the mangrove planting at the later part of the day. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">After dinner, night classes were held. Tonight, the team taught the children on origami. They kids made flowers, hearts and cranes. As usual, the children enjoyed themselves so much that they refuse to go home right after the end of the lesson.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Two other teams of pairs went for their Beach patrolling at Kuala Bahru and Telaga Papan. Those who went were <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sharon</st1:place></st1:city> and Jian Hui to Kuala Bahru while Shawn and Hamida went to Telaga Papan The team patrolled for whole night and NO turtles were seen to lay eggs. Only could see tracks made by the turtles.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Oh yes, beautiful rainbow seen after a passing shower </span><span lang="EN-SG" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-SG"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-SG">Tata~</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-40875432746377147952011-06-19T23:00:00.000+08:002011-06-21T22:49:57.800+08:00Day 4: Painting DayHello everyone! Today is PAINTING DAY! Painting works were concurrently carried out at house no. 1 and 2, and the Penarik Inn hatchery.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vkhec7Yelc4/Tf4jaOWpizI/AAAAAAAAAFE/40c9KC-Wb_s/s1600/DSC01043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vkhec7Yelc4/Tf4jaOWpizI/AAAAAAAAAFE/40c9KC-Wb_s/s320/DSC01043.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the house was painted</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">Due to unforeseen circumstances, the paint we have ordered arrived much later than expected. Although it dampened some of our moods, today has been a rather productive day for all of us! House no. 2 has been painted and we’ll be touching up tomorrow, hatchery signboards have all been nicely decorated and painted.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-is2SOv-vAJs/Tf4jNDL-g1I/AAAAAAAAAFA/wjP54ezeSZc/s1600/DSC_0149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-is2SOv-vAJs/Tf4jNDL-g1I/AAAAAAAAAFA/wjP54ezeSZc/s320/DSC_0149.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men in work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Interesting things happened *ehem* but we shall not go into details. =D<br />
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And as usual, children from Kg. Mangkok came over for their nightly English lessons. Violet taught them how to make face masks today. The children are still as playful, <strike>hyperactive</strike> ecstatic and lovable. =)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animal masks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-30227341707401724602011-06-18T23:00:00.013+08:002011-06-21T23:45:36.730+08:00Day 3 : What a day!<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It has been three days since the team has arrived in Setiu. Now that we have finalized our program and objectives, we proceeded with the plan in mind. The Operation committee went to the nearest hardware shop to order paints, building materials, wood, zinc roof for our activities. They include the making and installation of signboards at the Hatchery site, new coat of paints for two houses in Kampong Mangkuk and PEWANIS ‘s office (the Pink House) and murals for the local school. As some materials are not ready bought, it has to be ordered we could not have them immediately. Hence, some plans and activities were re-scheduled. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile, the team went to the Hatchery to attempt Nest Excavation at the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">Hatchery</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;">. What we did was to dig out the nest to retrieve the eggs shells as well as the unhatched eggs. Some photos we have:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The group got together after lunch to make the giant signboard for the Penarik hatchery. The signboard will be used as an information board for visitors to learn more about the hatchery and will contain updates about the hatchery. In addition to that, the team will be creating signage for the mangrove swamp for visitors which serve as reminders to be more aware of their actions towards environment. The team worked together from scratch to make the signboard and this includes sawing the wooden planks to painting the wood with undercoat and a second layer of paint with the preferred colour and even the nailing of planks. Below are a couple of photos of the giant signboard the team erected! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nJoFkcUXth0/TgCrdFkScdI/AAAAAAAAAFY/xe3F55aq9mw/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nJoFkcUXth0/TgCrdFkScdI/AAAAAAAAAFY/xe3F55aq9mw/s320/IMG_0176.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span">Later in the night, an English class was held. The children came and learn how to make mask using paper plates and design an animal on the paper of which they will later use to cover their face. The children with their unique sense of colour gave a rather quirky interpretation of the animal. </span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span">In addition, tonight was the first night was Beach patrol for Project Orion III. Two teams of pairs went for their beach patrol at Kuala Bahru and Telaga Papan. Those who went were Gladys and Eddy and Hamida and Jason. Gladys & Eddy patrolled Telaga Papan whilst the second pair patrolled Kuala Bahru. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Team Telaga Papan set off from the beach at around 2220hrs and around 2340hrs, we found the tracks of a turtle. The ranger and the team slowly approach the site and finally found the turtle. The turtle was still in the midst of laying the eggs. After some time, the turtle went back into the sea whilst me, Eddy, helped to dig the nest to collect the eggs which will be brought back to the Hatchery. The number of eggs obtained was 89 which was also the same amount of another nest found further down Telaga Papan by another ranger. Team Telaga Papan then hand over the eggs to Nurul from World Wildlife Fund and we walked a little bit more before resting for the night. We were picked up at 0400hrs to return to Pink House to take a rest. Team Kuala Bahru also had the opportunity to see a Green Turtle returning to sea after laying its eggs. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">It was indeed a fruitful night for the 4 members! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12px;">Written by: Eddy </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12px;">Edited by: Gladys</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">Post from Team Kuala Bahru</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">After dinner, we rest at Kak Tar's house while waiting for Abg Bi and Wai Si to fetch us to Kuala Bahru. They were held up by some work so we only set off at about 2220hrs. We had to take a boat ride from the jetty near Kak Tar's house in total darkness. It was Hamida's first ride. Another ranger, Abg Zi also followed use for the patrol. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">We had the opportunity to release hatchlings at Kuala bahru. At about 2320hrs, Abg Zi received a call saying that tracks of a green turtle was seen up ahead of Kuala Bahru. So we quickly headed to the site and saw Wai Si, Abg Bi and another ranger cleaning the turtle. She had already laid her eggs and were on the way back to the sea. The WWF team had to clean the barnacles off the turtle so that it will not add weight to the mother turtle. We also saw how the turtle struggled when we overturned it and Wai Si had to sit on it and Abg Zi to cover it's face to calm her down. We took measurements of the mother turtle. She is about 97cm long and 83cm wide. According to Abg Bi, this mother turtle had came up to the beach twice to lay eggs as she has a tag on her. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">The team helped to dig the nest to collect the eggs. Initially, we had some trouble trying to locate the nest but with the experts with us, they were able to locate the nest. The number of eggs obtained was 103. The eggs were then brought back to hatchery by Abg Ha. We continue to patrol. Along the way, we saw another track however, the turtle seemed to make a U-turn and did not lay any eggs. So we continue the search for green turtle or terrapin all the way till the end of Kuala Bahru. We took a rest in the house at the Kuala Bahru Hatchery area. We got back to Kak tar's house at about 8am and took breakfast before we go to sleep.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">Malay word of the day: Terappin : Tuntung</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 12px;">Written by: Hamida & Jason </span></span><br />
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</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-12072869415263931692011-06-17T23:00:00.003+08:002011-06-18T01:20:00.166+08:00Day 2: Night Lesson with the Children<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We had our dinner after the tour and conducted our night lesson thereafter. The night lesson conducted just a while ago was a blast and both the team as well as the kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly with songs and dance activities as part of an English programme for the children!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qRbc9TqvM18/TfuMCyI_pVI/AAAAAAAAAEM/wEWFCiJV0bM/s1600/DSC00979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qRbc9TqvM18/TfuMCyI_pVI/AAAAAAAAAEM/wEWFCiJV0bM/s320/DSC00979.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It has certainly been a long day for the team! Nonetheless, we are looking forward to the next day which we will be making and installing signboards at the Hatchery! So stay tuned for more updates!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Good Night!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-19836929668785285992011-06-17T23:00:00.002+08:002011-06-18T01:16:08.171+08:00Day 2: Tour around Kampong Mangkok<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kak Tar’s cooking is really awesome. After a hearty lunch today, Sijie, our advisor, brought the team to explore the village. We went on bicycles and visited a few areas. Firstly, we went to view the houses that the team will do painting for. There will be 2 houses that Project Orion III will assist to paint for the villagers. So we started off the Tour by heading to both house to access the location and to determine the manpower needed as well as any restoration work to be done, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Next we went to take a look at the houses previous Orion teams have done repair work or painting for. One house which we visited was Pak Mutasfa’s. He is unemployed and has been suffering from both kidneys’ failure since 2003 and started dialysis since 2004 when he was hospitalized. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Project Orion 1 dug a 6 feet deep compose well and built a proper toilet for the family of 4. Pak Mustafa is now well and receives subsidy for his medical fees from the government. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Thirdly, we rode past the school whereby the team will do a Mural Painting for. Last but not least, the team headed to Pernarik Inn where a Hatchery is built behind the Inn. We went there to take a look at how the Hatchery is built and run. After which, we went to the beach behind the Hatchery and played ‘Ice and Water’ with the infamous Ghost Crabs!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Primary School where we will do Mural Painting</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hatchery behind Pernarik Inn</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The infamous Ghost Crab!</td></tr>
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</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4437732690996898709.post-13771609391900063662011-06-17T23:00:00.000+08:002011-06-18T00:43:51.950+08:00Day 2: Beach Clean Up<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Good day! Project Orion III did a Beach clean up this morning after Breakfast at Kuala Bahru. 6 members made their way to the Beach by taking a boat ride whilst the others took a Car to the Beach. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wOwlpwJHtzc/TftvmqMemqI/AAAAAAAAADk/ZNZUGemz2Xo/s1600/DSC00941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wOwlpwJHtzc/TftvmqMemqI/AAAAAAAAADk/ZNZUGemz2Xo/s320/DSC00941.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boat ride! :D</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The team picked up Plastic Bottles, Glass Bottles and other rubbish that were littered around the area. We cleaned up about 500 meters of the Beach and collected about 12 trash bags worth of Plastic Bottles, 5 bags of Glass Bottles and about 8 bags of the other types of litters. After which, we made our way back to Kampong Mangkuk, together with all the items that we have collected at Kuala Bahru. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0