KOTA KINABALU: Sea gypsies could be the culprits behind the recent discovery of mutilated green sea turtles on Pulau Bum Bum off Semporna, whose carcasses were found with their stomachs ripped apart.
The authorities suspect that the sea gypsies, known as the Pala'u, may have been collecting turtle meat and plastrons (the nearly flat part of the shell) to be sold in Semporna.
Sabah Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga said the turtles’ condition bore striking similarities to an earlier case where four foreign men were charged with possessing 18 plastrons, three bags of turtle flesh and a bag of turtle shells.
“We suspect the Pala’u have taken the flesh and plastrons to sell them (in Semporna). This means that there are buyers in Semporna.
"We will identify who these buyers are,” he said.
Tuuga said the plastrons and dried meat from the endangered turtles were probably being sold for consumption or medicinal purposes.
He also said the department had identified several individuals from the Pala’u community suspected to be involved in the recent poaching of the turtles on Pulau Bum Bum.
On Aug 23, four Filipino men were sentenced to two years’ jail and fined RM100,000 each, in default nine months’ jail, for possessing plastrons, flesh and shells from protected turtles in waters off Pulau Bohey Dulang in Semporna on April 30.
The turtle parts they possessed were from the Chelonia mydas species which is listed as a protected species in Part I of Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
They were detained by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency personnel who were patrolling the area and were referred to the Sabah Wildlife Department.
The four were convicted under Section 41(4) of Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 which was read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.