PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Environment enforcers in El Nido town have warned residents and visiting tourists not to litter the sea with their plastic trash, which often suffocates marine wildlife to death.
Bienvenido Veguilla Jr. of the El Nido Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (ENTMRPA) aired this warning Monday following the discovery of the decomposing carcass of a 50-centimeter olive ridley sea turtle (pawikan) on the shore of Barangay Corong-Corong in El Nido town on Sunday.
He said the body of the sea turtle did not have any wound when it was found and they suspect it died due to plastic waste ingestion.
Veguilla said the sea turtle was just one of the marine wildlife that fell victim to the plastics carelessly tossed into the sea by unscrupulous residents.
The olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is one of the smaller sea turtles with fascinating nesting behavior called “arribada” where thousands go ashore at one time to lay their eggs over a few days. They can grow around two feet long and can weigh about 100 lbs. (Gerardo Reyes, Jr./PNA)
