Pulau Upeh Turtle Nesting Site

This is a continuation from my visit to Turtle Management Center in Melaka.

Pulau Upeh is one of the main nesting site for Hawksbill turtles in Melaka. This is Pulau Upeh in daylight. The water is murky and dirty. This island also used to be a popular tourist attraction for Melaka a few years back. But, the industry died quickly after the government refused to supply freshwater to the resort. Therefore, you can see there's an abandoned resort situated in the island in the pictures below. The sofas, cupboards, tables and bed were taken out from the resort to the jetty by fisherman who take refuge there.

Thankful I must say, those are the only things that the volunteers and wwf staffs relied on upon arrival every single night. The island was deserted, and we were the only people visible there. In case of emergency, we are equipped only with cellphones. I must salute their endurance for allocating themselves at such dangerous positions. Their working hours span from 10pm to 6am during fasting month to give way to their Muslim boatman.

Upon arrival, all I can see is this...

a single lamp at the broken jetty.

At first, pitch-dark had me experiencing nyctophobia a little but, I got a hang of it after a while. I realize that the absence of light and disturbing inhabitants at the island had actually made it an absolute nesting site for turtles.

Hatchling hatched from the eggs taken from the island were released back at the island to make them commemorate their place of origin. As we waited for the hatchling to find its way to the water, mosquitoes and sand flies (hamar) were happily surrounding every part of our body which is exposed [eventhough we were already 'coated' with insect repellent].

Patrolling on a rotational basis was exhilarating with only the torch light as our companion and lightning making its mark now and then. We were almost too sure that is was going to rain that night.

As the dawn breaks, a storm was visibly seen approaching the island.

It started with strong winds and slight drizzle of rain.

And then, the storm was paving its way to make the shabby jetty look more frightening as things begin flying around. We can barely see the mainland from the jetty by then.

Scary!

There are a lot of faeces enroute to the beach due to the fact that there were cats roaming in the area. The cats can become a threat towards the turtle eggs as food are scarce in the island. As you can see, the resort is located by the beach.

The resort by the beach.
A daily paid assistant, seen here with a book in her hands. All the furniture are taken from the abandoned resort.
A glimpse of the broken jetty that is visibly battered from strong waves and started to wear off without any maintenance.

The speedboat that brace all the strong waves.

To be frank, I've never been this near to a storm in the middle of the sea. The storm halted our journey back the mainland for merely 3 hours before we wade our way back in the rain. I was already soaking wet upon reaching the mainland. Whoa!

This is what I called, an adventure.
Certainly worth experiencing!