Earth Day

We spent Earth Day day with my parents in north west Bali and we got to celebrate it by releasing two Olive Ridley sea turtles into the Indian Ocean.   We were staying in Pemuteran for the weekend and down the beach just a bit was Proytek Penyu, a turtle conservation center that is working to save the endangered sea turtles.  In the past, when sea turtles were caught in fisherman's nets, they were eaten.  Now fishermen bring the turtles to the center and are paid for them. The center then releases the turtles back to the ocean.  In addition, villagers are paid for turtle eggs that are found on the beach.  The center collects the egg so they aren't destroyed by dogs, fishing boats and tourists using the beach or eaten as they are considered a delicacy here.  The eggs are buried in the hatchery in the center and kept at temperatures consistent with the natural environment.  Oddly enough, if the eggs are kept at mostly 30 degrees celsius the turtles will be males and at 32 degrees celsius they are mostly female.  After  45-60 days the eggs hatch and the baby turtles are kept in salt water ponds where they are monitored, fed and cared for until they are 2-3 months.  At this point, tourists can then pay $10 to release  a turtle.  

The boys were both quite excited and also very serious about their responsibility of releasing the turtles.  They named them Deva and Fifa.  It was pretty special seeing the little turtles, about 2.5 months old, but the size of Owen's hand, making their way across the sand and into the sea.  We watched them for a while until the speck of their bodies disappeared into the horizon.  The experience gave the boys a sense that they were really doing something to help endangered animals.

The village of Pemutran is also the site of a project called Bio Rocks.  A little over ten years ago people realized that the coral reefs were quickly disappearing from human impact.  Cyanide was being used to stun and collect reef fish to be sold to aquariums and tropical fish stores.  In addition, fisherman were blasting the reef with dynamite to collect fish.  These practices along with global warming and the invasion of the Crown of Thorns Starfish and the Drupella shells  were killing the reef.  Several locals and boolays (expats) were very concerned about this habitat destruction and also recognized that this would also drive away tourists who come to snorkel and scuba dive.  They began a project and secured grant funding from Australia to remove the non native starfish and sea shells, repair broken reef and encourage the growth of new reef.  In addition metal structures and wooden boats were placed in the bay as a location for the coral to grow.  Low voltage electric current is being supplied to the coral and the metal structures which stimulates the growth of the limestone on which the coral grows. 

The effects are impressive.  The coral I saw here was the healthiest and most stunning I have seen.  The variation in color and shape was fantastic.  We have snorkeled in many places in the world and what I saw here was mind blowing.  Owen and Henry both took to the water like fish and it was great seeing both of them so secure in their snorkeling.  Owen in particular loves snorkeling and revels in seeing all the fish.  He has learned to dive down to get a closer look at something and is our little Jacques Cousteau.  

While in Pemuteran, we also took a boat to Mengangan, an island that is a marine park surrounded by gorgeous reef where we snorkeled and saw "the wall" which is considered to be the best snorkeling and diving in Bali.  It was pretty great and a fun trip for all of us.  

North Bali is less populated than the south and we really enjoyed less traffic and a glimpse into the Bali of 20 years ago.  We drove through some beautiful countryside of terraced rice fields and hillsides of jungle.  I think for my parents it was nice to see that there are parts of Bali still like what they experienced when they were here in 1988.