Hatchlings released
WITNESSING tiny pawikan hatchlings on their mad dash to the sea doesn’t happen everyday. But on July 6, a remarkable event happened when Davao Light and Power Co. released 128 pawikan hatchlings in Aboitiz Cleanergy Park at Punta Dumalag.
These hatchlings came from the 167 eggs found last June 8 in the same area. One hundred fifty five of these eggs were transferred to the designated hatchery. And based on the number of eggs transferred, the hatching rate was at 82.58 percent.
Fermin Edillon, Community Relations manager, consulted the researchers from the University of the Philippines Mindanao and the University of Southeastern Philippines and referred to the DENR-Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau’s (PAWB) Pawikan guidelines during the release of the hatchlings. That is, from the time hatchlings were coming out of their shell until they were making their way to the sea.
“We are just fortunate that this area in Punta Dumalag has been Pawikan’s nesting area. Yes, these species are critically endangered, hence, the more we want to conserve and protect them for the future generation. We are encouraging the community to help protect the Pawikans and its nesting area because we don’t know how many more events like this we are going to witness,” said Edillon.
These Pawikan eggs, believed to be of the Hawksbill turtle species, are one of the most endangered marine turtles. It is believed that only 1 percent per clutch of pawikan hatchlings will survive to adulthood. This is why the Aboitiz Company developed the area in Punta Dumalag to create a sanctuary that will sustain the existence of these endangered species.
For this year, as of June 17, a total of 826 pawikan eggs including the newly released hatchlings were found in Aboitiz Cleanergy Park.