Around 94 baby turtles “made their way home” to the Sarangani Bay on Wednesday afternoon after hatching at a protected nesting site in a coastal village in Glan town, Sarangani province.

Forester Abdul Cariga, head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) in Glan, said the Olive Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were found by a concerned resident early Wednesday crawling in the shores of Purok Islam, Barangay Glan Padidu.

He said the baby turtles were noticed by former Bantay Dagat member Ismael Dante emerging from a nesting site in the area and appeared to have been newly hatched.

Dante reported the matter to Cenro-Glan and the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro), which immediately dispatched a team to the site, he said.

Cariga said the team, along with the barangay officials, documented the hatchlings and assisted their release to the sea around 3 p.m.

“They provided them with technical assistance for the proper handling and care of the hatchlings,” he said in a report released on Thursday.

The official said the response team conducted a brief information and education activity among community residents regarding the importance of the sea turtles or “pawikan” and their vital role in the ecosystem.

They also discussed the concepts of imprinting, natal homing, and the measures to protect the area’s sea turtle nesting site.

The village was among the areas in Glan that have thriving nesting sites of sea turtles based on the monitoring of Cenro, Menro, and the Environmental Protection and Conservation Center of Sarangani.

According to residents, the shores of Barangay Glan Padidu and nearby areas have long been hosting a number of nesting sites of sea turtles.

Female turtles that were released reportedly return to their birthplace in 20 to 25 years to lay their eggs.

“They imprint on the unique magnetic field of their birthplace and the female ones use this information to later return to the nest,” an earlier report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Region 12 said.

Based on DENR Administrative Order No. 2019-09 or the “Updated National List of Threatened Philippine Fauna and their Categories,” marine turtles are considered as endangered species.

The catching and hunting of marine turtles, like all wildlife species, are prohibited under Republic Act 9147or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. (PNA)