Ang Pahayagan

Pawikan hatching season

An olive riddle sea turtle got entangled to a nylon rope as it crawls towards the sea after being released at the Waterfront beach in Subic Bay Freeport Zone on Thursday, January 19, 2023.

Around 31 marine sea turtle hatchlings were released by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Ecology Center and Tourism personnel after they were discovered during an excavation work at a nearby drainage of a restaurant in the area.

Last week, eighty-eight (88) Olive ridley sea turtle  locally known as pawikan hatchlings were also released to the sea at All Hands Beach Resort in Subic Bay Freeport on Thursday, January 12.

Subic Bay is among the known nesting sites of pawikans where beach resorts care for the eggs deposited in the sand by sea turtles until they hatch and are ready for release into the sea.

To date, All Hands Beach Resort alone has released at least 9,311 sea turtle hatchlings from its care since it opened in 2012. The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), the smallest and the most abundant of sea turtles, is just one of the five sea turtle species found in the Philippines and among the only seven species in the world. (Photo for Ang Pahayagan / Jun Dumaguing)