KUANTAN: A majestic sea turtle has been delightfully captivating beachgoers near the shore of Pantai Tanjung Pelindung near here where hundreds turn up daily to get close to capture pictures.
However, there is no issue of human-animal conflict as the gigantic 'beached' sea turtle is here to stay as the stunning sea creature look-alike is drawn on two huge turtle-shaped rocks.
The 'masterpiece' on the life-sized rock was transformed by four muralists namely Amir Faruk, 34; Kamal Idris, 33; Azri Azahar, 35 and Muhd Ikmal Manan, 29, who spent five days completing the job.
Team leader Amir said they never expected the mural to become viral on social media with tons of reposting and attracting such a huge crowd to gather at the beach.
"It was former Kuantan City Council mayor Datuk Hamdan Hussin, who is now the Pahang Land and Mines office director who proposed the idea after he noticed the perfectly shaped 'head' and 'body' formed on the rocks. He goes walking at the beach regularly.
"The four of us who are part of a team known as Project ZeroSix had previously worked with Datuk Hamdan to draw 3D murals at Kuantan Art Street several years ago.
"This is the first time we were using the spray-paint technique on rocks.
"We completed the mural on July 16 and even before the painting was completed, people were eager to capture pictures. People from within and outside Kuantan have shared their pictures on social media, and words about the artwork spread fast," he said when met at Pantai Tanjung Pelindung today.
Amir said painting the mural measuring about 20m long and 10m in height was a little complex due to the uneven surface and difficulty of setting up the platform.
"The rocks were located quite a distance by the shore and we had earlier planned to rent a hydraulic sky lift but the vehicle will not be able to travel to this section of the beach.
"So, we had to do it manually by welding and using screws to fix the platform to reach out to the higher section on the rock.
"We only painted the sea turtle's head and bottom section of the body while leaving the upper part of the shell untouched to maintain the originality of the rock. There is another smaller turtle that we painted at the back of the huge rock," he said, adding the beach here was once popular for sea turtles in the 90s.
He said to capture a perfect picture of the sea turtle, visitors have to position themself at an ideal location along the shore to capture the full image of the sea creature.
Amir said he hopes that the project which was coordinated with Tourism Pahang will help turn the once less popular beach into a tourist attraction.
Images of the rock painting have gone viral on social media since early this week with many praising the creativity of the muralists for their fine artwork which has transformed the huge rocks into a sea turtle that has become a crowd puller.