July 6, 2017.
By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wildlife Department will
send tissue samples of two turtle carcasses to laboratory to confirm the cause
of death of the reptiles.
Its director Augustine Tuuga said initial reports indicated both female green turtles found in Kota Belud and here could be dying from toxicity or infection.
On Tuesday night, the department had retrieved
the turtle carcass, about 30-year-old, from Lok Kelia beach in Kota Belud about
90-minute drive from here.
They were alerted again yesterday morning by
public that another turtle, about 20-year-old, was seen washed out at the shore
of Likas bay in the morning.
The first turtle in Kota Belud had severe
bleeding in its respiratory, however, no gastrointestinal tract significant
changes although some sea weed was found in it.
He added the reptile could have been visited
seaweed farm for her last meal before it died.
“Probably and in most of the cases these
severe haemorrhages in vital organs are due to toxicity, any red tide, toxins
thrown into the sea , water pollution among others.
“Unfortunately in most of these cases the
detection of toxins in laboratory is reduced when the animal is in advanced
stage of decomposition,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The other one had bleeding in its liver and
intestines, enlarged liver, and fishing hook underneath of the skin at neck
area.
Augustine added enlarged liver was a sign of
infection which could be associated to bacteria entering the body via wounds
from the hook.
A witness Mohd Razi Samsuddin, 16, who saw
the turtle afloat in the sea around 7am was brought by someone to the beach.
“When we approached the turtle, which is
about half a meter long, it was already motionless.
“Its shell had dried up and both of its eyes
seemed to be bleeding,” he said when met at Likas bay yesterday.
Last year in March, two turtles were also
found dead at the beach in Sipitang and Gaya island here which could be due to
fish bombing or they had consumed plastic or rubbish.
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