DUNGUN - All 313 leatherback turtle eggs laid during five nesting visits along the Rantau Abang coastline near here between September and October have failed to hatch.
Terengganu Fisheries Department director Pang Nyukang said technical examinations conducted by the department with assistance from experts at the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) found no embryonic development in any of the eggs.
He said the eggs were believed to be unfertilised as the female turtle may not have mated, possibly due to the absence of male leatherback turtles in Terengganu waters.
"The eggs collected from the five nesting visits were examined in stages on Oct 3, Oct 15 and today to assess embryonic development and determine whether they had the potential to hatch," he told reporters after inspecting the eggs at the Rantau Abang Turtle Conservation and Information Centre here today.
Pang said the first nesting was recorded at Pantai Pasir Putih in Marang on Sept 1, with 44 eggs laid, followed by a second nesting at Pantai Rantau Abang on Sept 13, which produced 81 eggs.
He said the third nesting was recorded at Pantai Kuala Abang here on Sept 22, with 70 eggs, followed by the fourth at Pantai Jambu Bongkok on Oct 1, also with 70 eggs, while the fifth nesting at Pantai Rantau Abang produced 48 eggs.
Pang said the department believed all five nesting visits this year involved the same female turtle, based on the nesting patterns and intervals between visits.
"Leatherback turtles typically come ashore to lay eggs between five and eight times in a single nesting season, with intervals of about 10 to 13 days between each nesting.
"If the turtle is still alive, we expect it may return to nest around 2029 or 2030," he said.
He said the actual population of male leatherback turtles in Terengganu waters was difficult to determine because males do not come ashore, unlike females, which return to beaches to lay their eggs.
Pang said conservation efforts must therefore be intensified to protect the species' natural habitat and provide opportunities for leatherback turtles to continue breeding.
He said leatherback turtles were a critically endangered species worldwide, including in Malaysia, and had not been recorded nesting in Terengganu for nine years before their return to the state's beaches in September.
He said the development underscored the importance of conservation efforts and habitat protection by all parties to ensure the species' long-term survival. - BERNAMA