Giant marine turtle freed

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – A leatherback marine turtle (locally known as pawikan) caught Wednesday morning by a fisherman at Barangay Pinamitinan in Marabut town of Samar, has been released back to sea, after photos, showing a man cavorting on it, went viral on social media hours after these were posted.

The picture of the six-foot long and three-foot wide turtle was posted by Joel Lastimado, reportedly a former barangay chairman of Pinamitinan and president of the Association of Barangay Councils of Marabut.

The photo of the pawikan tied to a bamboo post with a man mounted it to the merriment of the crowd gathered around, had earned the ire and criticisms of netizens.

Corazon Makabenta, officer-in-charge of the Conservation and Development Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-8, in her Facebook account, thanked the public and netizens for their “expression of concern and support,” adding that the turtle “was released after taking photodocs and measurements by DENR at 11 a.m. that same day it was captured.”

Makabenta said the man who “maltreated” the turtle will be charged accordingly, for violation of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Danilo Suarez,of the DENR-Community Environment and Natural Resources Office Sta. Rita town of Samar, in his spot report, said the turtle was caught in a fishnet of Jessy Amora about one kilometer away from the shores of the village.

The leatherback turtle (Dermocheleys coriacea) is categorized an endangered species here and elsewhere in the world. The World Wildlife Foundation describes it as the “largest of all living sea turtles and the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians.”

An adult leatherback turtle can reportedly grow to a maximum of 2.7 meters wide and nine feet long, and could weigh an average of up to 500 kilograms.

However, the largest leatherback ever recorded was almost 10 feet long and weighed 916 kg. The marine animal's life span is still undetermined, but WWF estimated it to be between 40 and 45 years.