Turtle Hatchery of Sipadan Island

One of the most exciting features of Sipadan Island (Pulau Sipadan in Malaysia language) is scuba divers can easily spot over 10 sea turtles. The turtles of Sipadan also don’t seem to be afraid of human. As Sipadan is a paradise for turtles and they don’t feel threaten here, can’t this island be a favorite nesting ground of turtles too? Funny thing is, very few tourists even wonder this, so the turtle hatchery on Sipadan can remain as a hidden secret and not flooded by visitors.

Sipadan Island has abundant corals and fishes, and sandy beach, the perfect conditions for turtle nesting. However, Turtle Islands Park and Lankayan Islandof Sandakan are more famous than Sipadan as a turtle nesting site. 

Pic: if you are lucky, you would spot turtle mating in Sipadan, which can last for 20 hours.

During my visit to Sipadan in Apr, my dive operator Borneo Divers brought me to the Turtle Hatchery of Sipadan, which is about 150 Meters away from the jetty (turn left).

Pic: when I was getting near, I saw the “tyre mark” of mother turtle on the beach. This photo proves that sea turtle has wheels (just kidding!). The track shows that turtle crawls on beach inch by inch. It’s quite an effort so it prefers to lay eggs during high tide.

Pic: Turtle Hatchery of Sipadan. It is managed by Sabah Parks since 2005.

This hatchery is not open to public, so walk-in tourists won’t be entertained. You need to write-in to Sabah Parks in advance for a permit to visit (which is another permit different from diving permit). The Sabah Parks staff will guide you for a tour and even shows you the baby turtles (if available).

Pic: there is a turtle nesting below the signage. Seem like turtle can read too.

Pic: the entrance to the turtle hatchery

All the eggs from turtle nests will be transferred to this area for protection and conservation. The turtles that nest on Sipadan are Green Turtle (species: Chelonia mydas) and Hawsbill Turtle (species: Eretmochelys imbricata).

Do you notice half of the hatchery is under the sun and another under the shade?

The temperature can determine the sex of the baby. Hotter sand temperature is more likely to produce female turtles (not 100% but very high chance). FYI, male turtle takes 10 days longer than female to hatch.

Mr. Joannes, who is the caretaker of turtle hatchery on Sipadan Island Park of Sabah Parks, tells us about the tagging, measuring, excavating and releasing of sea turtles. He also says the peak season of turtle nesting usually falls in August and the highest nesting record (of Sipadan) is 18 turtle landing in a night.

The eggs from each nesting is surrounded by mesh wire, to prevent predators such as lizard, rat and crab from digging for the eggs.

Pic: each nest is labelled and recorded for tracking and research purposes.

Pic: they will cover the opening of the mesh wire when the eggs are about to hatch (normally takes 70 days).

The baby turtles will be released into the sea. They don’t simply put all the baby turtles into a basket then pour them all into the sea. The correct way is to release the turtles about 4 Meters before the sea water. By doing so, they will remember their place of birth and come back in future for nesting. Scientists confirm that sea turtle has the ability to use Earth’s magnetic field to go back to where they hatch.

Based on the collected data from tagging, the turtles released from Sipadan can swim as far as the water of Philippines and Australia. Therefore, this conservation program also benefits the marine ecology of other countries. Let’s hope this amazing marine wildlife will be everywhere again in our ocean.

Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

For further information log on website :
http://www.mysabah.com/wordpress/turtle-hatchery-of-sipadan-island/

Colorful fiddler crabs of Borneo

I remember a joke told by LHS:
A group of people go to a restaurant.
One of them asks the waitress, “Do you serve crab?”
The waitress pauses for a while, then reply with a big smile, “We serve EVERYONE!”

MySabah.com also serves crab, and many. You might think that I am crazy about the crabs. Not really lah. It is just that I find that fiddler crabs are very photogenic and few photographers feature them. Aren’t you tired of those macro / close-up shoot of dragonfly lah, ant lah, beetle lah, etc.? I want to have something special here. 

This will be my last set of fiddler crab photo gallery and it is meant to replace the older version of my previous crab photos. I dare to say my site is one of the few sites where you can find the most beautiful shot of fiddler crabs. 

Click Here to see 40+ Colorful Photos of Borneo Fiddler Crabs >>

I don’t know the name of each species. I had sent some of the photos to a Singapore universary.
Once they help to identify them, I will update the blog. If I report a new species, you will find a fiddler crab that named “Smoke Head Crab”. Haha… if that happens, I wish the crabs won’t go knock themselves to the wall to kill themselves (then become extinct).

Click Here to see 40+ Colorful Photos of Borneo Fiddler Crabs >>

For further information log on website :
http://www.mysabah.com/wordpress/oh-crab/

Assessing community vulnerability: A study of the mountain pine beetle outbreak in British Columbia, Canada

Published Date
Global Environmental Change
August–October 2007, Vol.17(3):460–471, doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.01.003

• Author 

• John R. Parkins ^,
 
• Norah A. MacKendrick

Social Science Research Group, Canadian Forest Service, 5320–122 Street NW, Edmonton, Alta., Canada T6H 3S5

Received 9 March 2006. Revised 19 December 2006. Accepted 3 January 2007. Available online 29 August 2007.

Abstract

Arguing that community-based assessments of vulnerability to climate change are congruent with the scale at which policy action takes place, this paper presents an assessment of vulnerability conducted in forest-based communities surrounded by a catastrophic outbreak of forest disease. Our assessment includes measures of several dimensions of vulnerability, developed using an interdisciplinary and participatory research process. We find that for some communities vulnerability represents a high level of economic risk, while for others risk is exacerbated by institutional limitations. We also find that community perceptions of risk and bio-physical assessments differ widely for communities anticipating future outbreaks of disease.

Keywords

Community vulnerability

Adaptation

Community capacity

Risk perception

Mountain pine beetle

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• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 780 435 7373; fax: +1 780 435 7359.

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378007000039

Biomass power cost and optimum plant size in western Canada

Published Date
Biomass and Bioenergy
June 2003, Vol.24(6):445–464, doi:10.1016/S0961-9534(02)00149-6

• Author 

• Amit Kumar
• Jay B. Cameron
• Peter C. Flynn ^,1,

• Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G8

Received 5 December 2001. Revised 21 October 2002. Accepted 21 October 2002. Available online 14 December 2002. 

Abstract

The power cost and optimum plant size for power plants using three biomass fuels in western Canada were determined. The three fuels are biomass from agricultural residues (grain straw), whole boreal forest, and forest harvest residues from existing lumber and pulp operations (limbs and tops). Forest harvest residues have the smallest economic size, 137 MW, and the highest power cost,   (Year 2000 US$). The optimum size for agricultural residues is   (the largest single biomass unit judged feasible in this study), and the power cost is  . If a larger biomass boiler could be built, the optimum project size for straw would be . Whole forest harvesting has an optimum size of   (two maximum sized units), and a power cost of   without nutrient replacement. However, power cost versus size from whole forest is essentially flat from  to  , so the optimum size is better thought of as a wide range.

None of these projects are economic today, but could become so with a greenhouse gas credit. All biomass cases show some flatness in the profile of power cost vs. plant capacity. This occurs because the reduction in capital cost per unit capacity with increasing capacity is offset by increasing biomass transportation cost as the area from which biomass is drawn increases. This in turn means that smaller than optimum plants can be built with only a minor cost penalty. Both the yield of biomass per unit area and the location of the biomass have an impact on power cost and optimum size. Agricultural and forest harvest residues are transported over existing road networks, whereas the whole forest harvest requires new roads and has a location remote from existing transmission lines. Nutrient replacement in the whole forest case would make power from the forest comparable in cost to power from straw.

Keywords

Biomass usage

Agricultural residues

Forest harvest residues

Wood waste

Power generation

Carbon credit

Optimum size

Logistics

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• *
  Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-780-492-6438; fax: +1-780-492-2200

Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0961953402001496

A conceptual comparison of bioenergy options for using mountain pine beetle infested wood in Western Canada

Published Date
Bioresource Technology
January 2009, Vol.100(1):387–399, doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2008.04.077

• Author 

• Amit Kumar ^,

• Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, 4-9 Mechanical Engineering Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G8

Received 22 January 2007. Revised 27 April 2008. Accepted 30 April 2008. Available online 9 July 2008. 

Abstract

Biomass is nearly carbon neutral and can be used for the production of various liquid fuels and chemicals. Decisions on biomass utilization should be based on the most economical and mature route. This study analyzes mountain pine beetle (MPB) killed wood as the feedstock for production of bio-ethanol and bio-oil and compares it with the direct combustion route to produce electricity. The MPB infestation of British Columbia’s (BC), a western province of Canada, forest has reached an epidemic proportion and is spread over an area of 10 million ha. According to the current estimates of BC‘s Ministry of Forests and Range, about 1 billion m³ of trees would be killed by MPB by 2013. This infestation would result in large scale loss of jobs and the standing dead trees are a fire hazard and if left unharvested will decay and release carbon back to the atmosphere. The cost of bio-ethanol production from a 2100 dry tonne/day plant using the infested wood for two locations (one remote and other near the industry) in BC is in the range of C$0.37–C$0.40/l (C$1.40–C$1.51/gallon). Similarly, cost of bio-oil production from a 220 dry tonne/day plant using the infested wood for same two locations in BC is in the range of C$0.27–C$0.29/l (C$1.02–C$1.09/gallon). The cost of producing electricity using this bio-oil is above C$100/MWh which is higher than the current power price in BC. This cost is also higher than the cost of production of electricity by direct combustion of infested wood in a boiler (C$68–C$74/MWh).

Keywords

Beetle killed trees

Biopower

Bio-oil

Bio-ethanol

Techno-economic assessment

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• ⁎ 
  Tel.: +1 780 492 7797; fax: +1 780 492 2200.
  
  

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096085240800477X