MORE dead turtles were found floating in Sabah, last night, just days after a similar find on an island near the state’s east coast.   

Workers of a scuba diving company found eight turtle carcasses floating in the sea off Mabul Island near Semporna around 11pm last night. 

On September 28, Sabah Wildlife Department officers found about 100 turtles in villages on Bum Bum Island during its probe into viral photos of eight green turtlesfound on the island’s beach. 

A scuba diving company worker told The Malaysian Insight that Mabul was only 45 minutes by boat from Bum Bum, but believed the dead turtles could have been dumped from mainland.  

“Interestingly, it all happened right here in Semporna and around when the number of Chinese nationals holidaying are at its peak,” he said. 

“This discovery is similar to the first incident on Bum Bum Island few days ago. All the turtle’s organs and eggs were removed, with only the head, fins and shell intact.

“The turtles could have been butchered by a skilled cook in one of the water villages in Semporna, perhaps doing some private functions to serve the tourists, and the operator might have just thrown it away into the sea,” he suggested while requesting anonymity. 

The district is among one of the best locations in Sabah to spot turtle landings, but fishermen also roam its waters to poach the protected marine creatures, he said. 

He said fishermen in Semporna were willing to catch anything as long as there was demand.

Although state Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the probe into the first case indicated that the Pelauh or Bajau laut sea nomads could be behind the killing of the green turtles, the scuba company worker believed demand from Chinese tourists was behind the butchery of the animals as they believed turtles had medicinal properties.

According to him, the Pelauh, who live on boats and make only occasional stops on the islands, fish to survive and regard turtles as sacred. 

It is understood the state Wildlife Department had been notified of the new discovery. – Ocotber 1, 2017.