Marine Turtle status Report - Indian Ocean - South-East Asian ...

5.1.3 Location of nesting beach and nestsThe beaches of all six islands were confirmed to be nesting sites for turtles. Thecommunities of Kulapuan and Boheyan reported that turtles do not nest neartheir village area, while Army personnel have sighted a Green turtle nesting in thevicinity of their base camp on Boheyan Island. The Reef Dive Resort staff onMataking have observed turtles nesting near chalets at the resort but only rarely.The interviews also revealed that most turtle nests found were underneathcoastal trees. The Reef Dive Resort staff reported occasionally finding nests farinto the vegetation area.5.1.4 Nesting seasonIt was determined that the nesting season begins in March and extends throughSeptember, known as Musim Selatan by the island communities. Datu PengiranAhmad reported that April and May are peak nesting months for PandananIsland.The resort operators on Timba-Timba, Pom-Pom and Mataking reported that thenesting season starts from May and extends through September.5.1.5 Abundance of nests, eggs and hatchlingsKulapuan Island used to have upwards of 10 to 15 nests per year in the past,compared to the present situation of only one to two nests per year. The villagehead, Ibnu bin Amil noted that some of the nests contained more than 100 eggs.Boheyan Island had less than 10 nests per year in year 2000. Now villagers findone or two nests per year only.Timba-Timba, Mataking and Pom-Pom used to have more than 15 nests perisland. Datu Pengiran Ahmad of Pandanan remembered finding up to 40 nestsper day in the 70s and 80s. Data on nests, eggs and hatchlings of Pandanan,Pom-Pom and Mataking are presented in Section 5.3.15