Who does not know them? The two sea turtles Squirt and Crush from the animated movie “finding Nemo”. And who doesn’t know all those pictures of the sea turtles trapped in fishing nets or feeding on plastic parts, because they got attracted by the smell of seaweed or microorganisms.
The sea turtle farm in Sanyang works with those two extrema. Ousman Sanyang, an eco-activist, is the operator of the farm. He works there for more than ten years now and stands up for these sweet little reptiles. It all began with defending and securing the nests. Often the labouring animals strand at breaking edges and aren’t able to lay their eggs far enough form the sea. The flood then exposes the nests and the eggs end up as pray for birds and wild dogs. Ousman began with digging out the nests and place them somewhere safe. He started to build fences and marked the nests with a date, that shows when the eggs were placed. With this he is able to nearly exactly predict the day the little sea turtles will hatch.
So, what would be a better idea, then to show the kids from Rhema Abam School this very impressing and interesting event of nature? The sea turtle farm isn’t far from the school. To make sure everything goes according to plan, to watch the animal hatch, we “bought” one of the nests. Because the morning and evening hours are the best times for our little trip, we met up at school for dinner. After that we could start. We had plenty of time until the turtles from “our” nest were set free, so we first visited a little exhibition that shows several artefacts from turtles, shells, seahorses and crabs. Ousman Sanyang spoke about the life of the sea turtles and how they adapt to their life in the sea and that they only visit the land to lay eggs. He explained why it is so important to protect those animals and that they are threatened by extinction. They are hunted by humans because of their flesh, their eggs and because of their tortoiseshell and leather
Here in Sanyang the turtles are safe until they hatch and follow their ways into the ocean. The little sea turtles are collected in buckets and carried to the ocean. Of course, the kids were able to hold “their” turtle in their hands and inspect them carefully. In the end every animal was set free into the ocean. Until they are grown up and fertile they still have to overcome many obstacles, but their first steps into the ocean were successful thanks to Ousman.