TOTALLY PROTECTED SPECIES
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Viral photo of diver holding a Hawksbill turtle in Sabah sparks call for action by groups
complaintontheincidentbutifit happened outside TARP, it will fallunderthejurisdictionofthe state Wildlife Department,” he said, adding that divers and snorkellers must be mindful whenobservingmarinewildlife.
SabahWildlifeDepartmentdi
rectorAugustineTuugasaidthe punishmentforoffencesagainst protected marine wildlife was provided for under the Wildlife ConservationEnactment1997.
InSabah,hesaid,theHawksbill turtlewaslistedasatotallypro- PICTURE of a diver tected speciesunderSchedule 1 holdingupaturtleofa Part 1 ofthe enactment and no totally protected one was allowed to capture or species in waters here touchit.
has caused anger among mem
bersofthedivingfraternity.
AVILAGERALDINE KOTAKINABALU
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“Divers must practise respon ，.:夕sible wildlife watching. If they Thepicture,whichwasshared come across marine wildlife in inaWhatsAppgroupcomprising -distress, theyshould informthe mostly professional’divers and departmentorSabahParks/*
Sabah Parks staff, showed the Tuuga said the department’s diverholding aHawksbill turtle representativeswouldmeetUtii- versitiMalaysiaSabah’sresearch The act was described as team today to discuss the var- thoughtlessandthedivinggroup sity’s turtle-tagging methods, urged theauthorities toinvesti- which had receivedbacklashaf- +gateandtake actionagainstthe terataggedturtlewasfounddead
diver.Itwasunclearwhetherthe nearPulauMabul.
incident occurred in theTunku “Anyresearchapproachthatis Abdul Rahman Marine Park harmfultomarinewildlifeisnot (TARP). The reason for such an agoodmethod,
actwasalsounclear.
SabahParksdirectorDrJamili findoutthevarsity’swayofwork- Naistold theNewStraits Times ing and discuss effective meth-
thatpickingupaturtleinapro- ods(tostudyturtles).’’ .
tectedmarineparkfornoreason Non-governmental organisa- AdiverholdingatotallyprotectedHawksbillturtleinKotaKinabalurecently,piccourtesyofnstreader
was an offence under the park tions Semporna Professional ordinance.
“Byright,nooneshouldtouch Semporna claimed that turtles Pilcher,whohas30 years ofex-
orhandle anymarinespecies— diedduetothewrongtechnique periencein handlingturtles, re- Todate,SabahWildlifeDepart- propellers, while others whatmoreaprotectedone— if used by untrained volunteers portedly said the technique of ment officers have recorded beached, killed after being it*snotforresearchpurposes. duringthetaggingprocess. “shootingup” the turtles to the 18 green turtle deaths off caughtinfishingnetsordieddue
“Ihaveyettoreceiveanofficial Marine Research Foundation watersurfacewould causethem PulauMabul. tounknowncauses.
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abovethewatersurface.
“We (thedepartment) want to
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Divers Association and Green executive director Dr Nicolas J. to suffer decompression sick- Tuuga said some of the pro
tected animals were hit byboat were ness.
