Yes, this was what actually took place yesterday. 12 two-year old green turtles that have been raised in Aquaria KLCC were flown direct from Subang to Redang Island, courtesy of Berjaya Air for release at Chagar Hutang beach, their birthplace. The turtles were accompanied by Dato’ Simon Foong, CEO of Aquaria KLCC, Datin Mina Foong, CEO of Body Shop, other Aquaria staff and the TV3 crew (Fariha and Harun). The turtles were literally whisked from the plane into the boat by ready hands and transport provided by Berjaya Redang Beach Resort.

We lost no time in getting the turtles back into water in Chagar Hutang. I had earlier gone around borrowing tanks and with one each from Berjaya Redang and Ayu Mayang Resort to augment what we had, we managed to house all the turtles in natural seawater for the very first time in their lives.

The rest of the day was occupied by TV3 doing some filming on us, tagging the turtles that have been microchipped earlier and painting them. The prominently painted letter on the carapace will allow for easier sighting. A “wanted” poster has been circulated to all dive centres in Redang to help report the sightings. Mr Yap Chuan Bin, Hon. Secretary of the Redang Resort Operators Association designed and provided the posters for this purpose.

Today was really a fun day. Our volunteers did a good job mounting the banners for the release and equipment handover by Aquaria KLCC. We were very pleased that Yang Berhormat Toh Chin Yaw and Mrs Toh, Sean and his photographer from the New Straits Times Press, I-Ling from Nanyang Siang Pau and Mr. Yap, the owner of Ayu Mayang Resort made it to Chagar Hutang for the event. Baharim, Burhan and Faizal from UMT were also present as cameramen.

The big event for the day was the release of the turtles. The turtles were first harnessed and leashed to allow them to be followed by a snorkeller for observation. Initially, the turtles just stood still and had to be prompted to move. In the water, the behaviour of the turtles varied. Some kept close to the edge of the water, some swam to the bottom and rested there, while some made a beeline for deep waters. The important thing was that all of them appeared at ease in the sea. After about half an hour, the turtles were brought back to the beach to be freed from the harness. They were released a short distance from the water. This second time around, they wasted no time and headed straight towards to water and thereafter shot off to beyond. It will be interesting to see if we will receive reports of sightings.

Note the new signboard painted by our volunteers. We have three of them on the beach, placed at sectors 10, 20 and 30. The mating turtles were spotted as as we were being transferred to the UMT boat. Fifi brought us as close to the pair as we could get without disturbing them. I think Faizal, our cameraman captured some nice video footage.

Chan, on trip to Chagar Hutang from 8-10 July 2008.

P/S: The event “Turtles Can Fly” was featured in Majalah 3, TV3 at 9pm on the 19th of July 2008.

• First trip to Chagar Hutang in 2009
• Resort staff in beach cleanup
• Life at sea for KL-bred turtles
• Chagar Hutang revisited
• The joys of being a turtle volunteer