Five baby green turtles hatched in park go on show ahead of release
26 March 2009
South China Morning Post

Offspring of an endangered green turtle with a penchant for laying eggs during typhoons are on display ahead of their planned release into the ocean in the summer.

They are among a batch of 22 baby turtles - from 800 born to an adult female known as "Hong Kong 2" last year - that were held back because by the time they arrived the weather was too cool for them to take to the sea.

Their mother laid 800 eggs on Sham Wan Beach on Lamma Island in seven batches between July and October. Half were left to hatch naturally, while the others were hatched by the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department, which achieved a 99 per cent hatching rate.

Most of the babies found their way to the ocean by themselves or with the help of the department but the remaining 22, the last to hatch, have been kept at the Hong Kong Wetland Park to await warmer weather.

Five are meeting the public in an exhibition at the park named "Treasure of the Ocean - Green Turtle", which opened yesterday and will run until July 31.

Guided interpretations and public lectures are being given.

Meanwhile, the adult turtle, equipped with metal flipper tags and a satellite transmitter, has been tracked along the coast of Guangdong and into Vietnamese waters.

Measurements of the turtle, last seen on the beach in 2003, showed that its carapace length had grown from 91cm to 98cm in five years.

Wetland and fauna conservation officer Cheung Ka-shing said both visits by the turtle had coincided with a time when typhoons hit Hong Kong. He said this could be a coincidence or the turtle might feel safer coming to shore during storms.

"Hong Kong 2" left Hong Kong waters in October.

Spy in the sky confirms HK as turtle haven
Hong Kong Standard
Thursday, March 26, 2009

Satellite-tracking tags have confirmed that the city's eastern waters are a vital transit route for the endangered green turtle.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department biologists tracked four female green turtles that came to nest in the territory.

"Our data showed they do migrate among feeding grounds in waters near Hong Kong, migrating from the Philippines to China to lay eggs," AFCD wetland and fauna conservation officer Cheung Ka-shing said.

Of the seven existing marine turtle species, four have been spotted in the territory.

The leatherback and hawkbill species are critically endangered while olive ridley and green turtles are on the endangered list.

To turn the tide, the AFCD has incubated roughly 910 eggs and has been caring for 22 baby turtles. Hatched in December, the baby turtles were from the seventh batch of eggs laid by the first recorded green turtle that returned to nest near Hong Kong.

On July 26 last year, AFCD wardens at Lamma Island's Sham Wan beach restricted area spotted a female green turtle dubbed "Hong Kong 2" that was last seen nesting in 2003.

With the mother laying seven clutches of eggs from July 26 to October 11, the AFCD decided to artificially incubate batches four to seven out of fear that temperatures would be too cold since the egg's 50-day hatching cycle would mean they would hatch in the middle of winter.

The incubation yielded more than 80 percent hatching rate versus nature's one in 1,000.

Hatchlings from batches four through six were introduced into the wild in October while batch seven and its 22 babies will remain on show at Tin Shui Wai's Hong Kong Wetland Park until July 31.

The green turtles have been listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List as endangered since 2004.