Turtle Traffic in Derawan, The Turtle's Haven.

Hampir semua menyukai penyu. Makhluk laut yang satu ini selalu terlihat tenang, mereka berenang dengan elegan dan terkadang tidak perduli saat kita mendekat di kala menyelam.

Almost everybody loves sea turtles. These sea creatures always looks calm, swim elegantly and sometimes it seems like they don't feel disturbed at all when we approach during dive.

Maratua Island and its super calming landscape

Di area perairan Pulau Maratua, Kepulauan Derawan, Kalimantan Timur terdapat surga para penyu. Disini anda dapat bertemu puluhan penyu dalam satu kali menyelam hingga anda akan berhenti menghitung jumlah penyu yang ada karena terlalu banyak.

In the area of Maratua, Derawan Islands, East Borneo, there is a paradise for sea turtles. Here, you can meet dozens of turtles in one single dive. Its so many sea turtles until you stop counting the number of them because it's simply too many.

Roll and dive

Hey there!

Sebagai habitat penyu hijau terbanyak, menemukan penyu di Kepulauan Derawan tidaklah sulit. Menyelam di berbagai area dan penyu seringkali anda temukan. Bahkan tanpa perlu menyelam anda pun dapat melihat banyak penyu, terutama di dermaga Desa Payung Payung di Pulau Maratua. Sambil berjalan di dermaga maka anda akan melihat penyu naik ke permukaan di area dermaga, mengambil napas dan kemudian turun ke dalamnya laut.

As the largest green sea turtle habitat, finding sea turtles in Derawan Islands wasn't difficult at all. Diving in various areas, turtles are often to be found. Even without diving, you can also see a lot of sea turtles, especially at the village dock at Payung Payung Village, Maratua. During walk on the pier, then mostly will see sea turtle came up to the surface in that area to take a breath and then swim back to the sea.

Nothing, just chilling here

"Turtle Traffic" adalah nama titik penyelaman yang berada di sekitar dermaga Payung Payung. Nama ini memang menggambarkan situasi di bawah laut. Bagaikan lalu lintas, penyu hilir mudik di area ini. Belum tiga menit saya menceburkan diri di birunya laut, saya sudah melihat penyu. 

" Turtle Traffic " is the name of the dive spot located around the Payung Payung Village dock. This name describes the situation under the sea. Just like traffic, there are a lot of sea turtle in this area. Not even three minutes I get myself into the blue, there I saw sea turtles.

Saya kemudian terus menerus bertemu penyu, terutama penyu hijau, hingga akhirnya saya berhenti menghitung saat angka penyu yang saya temui lebih dari 18. Ada penyu yang sedang tidur di bawah karang, berdiam di sisi karang, atau sedikit hilir mudik di beberapa area.

Then I constantly met sea turtles, especially the green sea turtles, until I finally stopped counting when the numbers hit more than 18. Some sea turtles were sleeping under the corals and rock, some dwells beside the reef and some were just going back and forth in this areas.
 

Those sea turtles likes to chill beside the reefs

This one seems unhappy to see us and swam away

Sebagian penyu tampak tidak perduli dengan keberadaan saya, bahkan saat saya mendekat untuk mengambil gambar. Sebagian lagi tampak curiga dengan keberadaan kami dan langsung ambil ancang ancang untuk pergi saat kami datang.

Most turtles don't seem to care at all about us, even when I approached to take some photos. But some looked suspicious with our presence and immediately took off leaving us behind at the moment we came

.

guess how old is this sea turtle, 90 or 100 years perhaps?

Meski penyu di area Turtle Traffic sangat banyak, ini bukan gambaran kondisi populasi penyu sesungguhnya. Bahkan penyu sudah masuk dalam daftar hewan dilindungi dalam hukum internasional dan nasional meski belum dilakukan secara maksimal.

Although you can find a lot of sea turtles at Turtle Traffic, this don't represent the real conditions of their population. Sea turtles are on the list of animal protected under the international and national law, although rules are still made to be broken in some places.

Where are you going?

Binatang yang sudah ada sejak masa 100 juta tahun yang lalu ini semakin menurun populasinya dari tahun ke tahun. You know it, kita, manusia lah yang jadi ancaman terbesar bagi penyu. Perusakan habitat, tempat bertelur dan bahkan kebiasaan untuk mengambil dan memakan telur penyu jadi salah satu penyebab utama turunnya populasi penyu.

This animal have been around since 100 million years ago and now the population are declining bad each year. You know it, we, human beings who become the biggest threat to sea turtles. Habitat destruction, they lose their spawning environment and also habits to take sea turtles eggs or even eat their meat. Those are the main causes of the threat to their populations.

Penyu terutama jenis penyu hijau sering memakan rumput laut, dan layaknya rumput, rumput laut juga perlu sering "dipotong" secara rutin agar tetap sehat. Secara alami penyu yang melakukan hal ini, namun berkurangnya jumlah penyu menyebabkan perkembangan rumput laut juga menurun di beberapa tempat padahal rumput laut adalah salah satu tempat utama untuk berkembangbiaknya beberapa jenis ikan, kerang hingga crustacean (kepiting, udang, lobster).

Sea turtles, especially the green sea turtles often eat sea grass, and just like grass, sea grass also needs to be "cut" regularly to grow healthy. Naturally at the ocean, sea turtles do the cutting, but the reduced number of sea turtles make the numbers of sea grass is also declining. Sea grass is in fact provide a breeding place for some species of fish, shellfish and crustacean (crab, shrimp and lobster).

 

Do the math and you'll find out. Penurunan jumlah penyu secara tidak alami akan membuat makanan laut favorit kita juga menghilang pelan pelan. Bukannya tidak boleh makan semua binatang laut, namun ketahui mana binatang yang secara ekologi aman untuk dimakan dan mana yang dapat mengganggu kestabilan ekosistem.

Do the math and you'll find out. The decreasing number of sea turtles will make our favorite seafood is also slowly disappear. Its not that you can't eat all marine animals, but knowing which one ecologically safe to eat and which could destabilize the ecosystem.

Trying to make a hand signal for sea turtle but my other hand is full, ha!

Masih banyak ikan, udang dan kerang dengan siklus berkembang biak yang cepat dan dapat dikonsumsi. Life will still good without eating sea turtles eggs or meat, I promise.

There are still a lot of fish, shrimps and scallops with rapid breeding cycles and surely can be consumed. Life will still good without eating sea turtles eggs or meat , I promise .

@marischkaprue - swimming with sea turtles once in a while

RELATED STORIES:

• Turtle Spawning in Sangalaki Island, Derawan
• Do You Wanna Help Squirt?
• Diving in Maratua reef

DIVING SPOTS IN DERAWAN ISLANDS:

• Barracuda point
• Turtle Traffic
• Maratua Reef