Green sea turtle, dugong found dead in Palawan

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and a dugong or sea cow (Dugong dugon) were found dead along the shores of Roxas, Palawan, on Oct. 25, local environmental authorities said.

The Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) of Roxas conducted separate retrieval operations for the two marine animals, whose causes of death remain undetermined.

A female green sea turtle was found floating in the sea early in the morning before its carcass washed ashore in Barangay I, MENRO said.

The turtle measured 118.5 centimeters long and 71.5 centimeters wide and weighed approximately 25 kilograms. Authorities said its carcass was already moderately decomposed.

Later that day, a dead female dugong was found on Johnson Island. It measured 255 centimeters long and weighed approximately 250 kilograms. Its carcass was also moderately decomposed, and the cause of death remains unknown.

MENRO said DNA samples were collected from both animals before their carcasses were buried.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the green sea turtle as a species of least concern globally.

However, it is classified as critically endangered under Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) Resolution No. 15-521, issued in 2015, and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which generally prohibits international commercial trade in the species.

The dugong is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN and critically endangered under the same PCSD resolution. It is also classified as endangered under Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order No. 2019-09.— MCG, GMA News

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