Releasing Baby Turtles in Morong, Bataan

My recent trip to Morong, Bataan, Philippines is a memorable one. We were fortunate enough to experience releasing pawikan, or turtle, hatchlings at the Pawikan Conservation Center! We also had the rare experience of joining the night patrol wherein we witnessed a wild mother turtle dig her nest, lay some eggs, and return to the sea.

I love beaches, especially virgin beaches, or sustainably developed ones. I prefer less crowded ones because sadly, I find that the Philippines doesn't always do a good job of developing beaches without compromising natural resources. What I love about this particular beach is that it seems to have struck the balance between business and being ecologically sound. The resorts in Morong are nice and quiet. Thankfully, there are no wild beach parties and no one uses the karaoke machine. I hope it stays that way. 

The Pawikan Conservation Center houses a small pond with two turtles that were rescued. One is a hunchback that has difficulty swimming, while the other turtle has one of its limbs shorter than the rest. They also have a secured area where they incubate the eggs, with each nest with details such as the date they were laid and the number of eggs. The center charges PHP 20 per person for the entrance fee, which really goes to the projects of the center. The season starts from late November and ends around February. If you're lucky enough, and arrive on a day when some baby turtles have hatched, you can release them for fee of PHP 50 per hatchling. This is different from the entrance fee. We paid PHP 70 since we all wanted to experience this. Please be gentle when handling the baby turtles. 

They also hold pawikan patrol night tours, which you can join with two of their volunteers to scout for nesting turtles around the beach. This happens at night, since turtles typically lay their eggs at night. Our patrol group met up at 8:30 PM at the center and was briefed by the manager about turtles, and the dos and don'ts. It was very educational! The manager also speaks english so if you can't understand Filipino, that's fine. I learned a lot during the briefing. Apparently, turtles don't like bright lights, so we were advised not to point our flashlights and phones too far away while walking the beach. Mother turtles are usually picky when it comes to picking a spot for laying eggs, and when they see bright lights or hear loud sounds, they may choose to leave and come back on another day, or worse, lay their eggs in the ocean which will not end up getting incubated and will not hatch. Actually, our guides were such experts that he quickly saw the tracks even if it was so dark. Well, for us, the "tracks" looked the same as the rest of undisturbed beach sand, but I guess, they're so trained. We were asked to only watch from afar and keep quiet while the mother turtle was digging. After the turtle was settled, the guides gave us the go signal to approach the turtle while she was laying eggs. Be careful not to walk in front of the turtle while she's laying eggs to avoid giving them stress. Our guide, Kuya Arnold, dug a hole so that we could see the eggs being deposited on the sand. It took about an hour for the turtle to finish laying eggs. She laid 120 eggs, and it will then take around 45 to 60 days for the eggs to hatch. Unfortunately, not all eggs will hatch as not all have been fertilized. Think of it like chicken eggs. Some will remain as yolks, while some will develop into hatchlings. They don't hatch all at the same time. They can even hatch days apart. 

We watched the mother turtle bury its nest in sand then pound on the sand to make it compact. She also swept some sand so that the spot will look camouflaged and will prevent from predators seeing where the eggs were laid. After the mother turtle returned to the sea, our guides carefully took out the eggs and we all happily went back to the center where they dug another hole to safely incubate the eggs. We started at around 8:30 PM and ended around 11:30 PM already. 

Of course, finding a nesting turtle is not guaranteed since everything is by Mother Nature and this experience is by chance. It was unfortunate that one of the kids who joined the patrol group left and said that they just wasted some money. You would think people would be understand thus concept, but I am appalled how people express their reviews on tripadvisor that there were no hatchlings when they arrived. There is really no guarantee. It's not the zoo, it's nature.

We stayed for three days and we were lucky enough to release baby turtles during the two days.

They're really not that strict in collecting fees, so I recommend being diligent in giving the necessary fees. For such a small amount, you will be helping them continue their legacy. They currently have 16 active volunteers, whom they give allowances to every few months. They don't receive a regular salary. Since they are volunteers, it would be great if we could further encourage them by supporting them with ample funds. They only get bulk of its cash flow during the peak season so most of its volunteers seek work the rest of the year. Some volunteers have decided to focus on outside work instead, since they also needed to earn money. This is pretty understandable. It takes passion and dedication to be a volunteer, as it demands times, effort, but does not exactly give financial support. During its peak season, its volunteers patrol at night and report for work early in the morning, so it can be really taxing. They don't get support from the government, and rely on donations. 

If you'd like to donate, you may contact the manager Manolo +939216302842 or deposit money here: Landbank of the Philippines- Balanga City (Bataan) Branch
Bank Account Name : Bantay Pawikan Inc. Livelihood Project
Address: Purok VI-Aplaya, Nagbalayong, Morong Bataan
Account Number : 0441-1942-26
Some commendable volunteers that we encountered: Arnold, Lino, and Totoy. Some of them have started this initiative back in the 80s and 90s!