The Pawikan Conservation Center!

Hello once again readers! This will be our second post, and in this post we'll be having the juicy stuff! We will be telling you about the start of our Field Trip, and our first destination which is the Pawikan Conservation Center.

(We released the baby Olive Ridleys here!)

To be honest, we ourselves don't really know why we had this field trip. Probably because we were studying Biology, even though the Pawikan Conservation Center was only part of the field trip. However, we did know that we were going to have a lot of fun, and that Jinx will be abused when he tries to sleep. We also knew that this will be a fun learning experience, and that we'll be helping the environment! 

We came to this field trip not only because it was required but because we knew this would be a great learning experience! We knew we would have a lot of fun while learning, and that we would help the environment. Everyone in our group are nature-lovers, and we were more than excited when we were told that we would be cleaning up the beach and would be releasing sea turtles,the Lepidochelys olivacea or the Olive Ridley, to be exact.  (Thanks to wikipedia for more information on the Olive Ridley!)

(One of the baby Olive Ridleys we would release!)

We expected that our batch would have a safe trip coming and going, and that there would be good weather, as long as we prayed. And yes, majority of the batch prayed that everything would go well because of the excitement running inside us. Not only did we expect that, but also that everything would turn out well with the presence of our teachers and God. Lastly, it would be a lot of fun (Chaos) with my classmates.

Our Unique Answers: (How did it feel before the actual field trip?)

     
 "As usual, I felt very excited and I was sure we would have fun, especially me since I'm a nature-lover, and nature was all around me. But at the same time, I felt sad thinking that it would be our last field trip of the batch, but nevertheless, we managed to make most out of it!" - Pommy

      "I felt sleepy, but excited. Even though I did not sleep before the field trip, I was extremely hyped for the field trip. I do regret the fact that I didn't sleep, primarily because of the fact that TheGirlWhoWaited, Daisy and Emmet (Moselle, Bertie and Oni) would take pictures of me sleeping and slap me to wake up. Nevertheless, I was really happy and excited for it." - Jinx

      "As usual, I was hyped for this field trip and I was sure it would be really fun and full of pictures. Also, I thought that it would be our only one with the cool and funny Teacher Rye so it was a must-come! I felt happy because this trip was only for us 6th graders together with our lively teachers, but at the same time I felt blue knowing that this will probably be the last field trip of our batch while we're in TLT, but luckily, we were able to make the most out of it! I could say this was one of the best field trips ever!" - Daisy

      "Before I went to the Field Trip, I was so excited to release hatchlings and to have so much fun with my friends. Before I slept I prayed that the field trip will be the best field trip ever! It actually turned out so, because we had so much fun in the bus while traveling to the Pawikan Conservation Center and BNPP, (especially going back to school!). I could barely even sleep that night because I couldn't stop thinking of it. I was so nervous I might leave something important behind, but luckily I did not! I felt gloomy however this will be the last field trip in TLT. So, I had to make the most out of it!" - AIM

Pawikan Conservation Center

(The PCC sign when you enter!)

As mentioned a while ago, the Pawikan Conservation Center (PCC) is a center aiming to conserve marine turtles of the Philippines and avoid their extinctions in many ways. Not only that, but PCC also teaches people the way marine turtles live. We expected to learn more about the extinction of these exquisite marine turtles, and how we can avoid doing any damage or harmful acts to them, and to stop their extinction. Moreover, we expected to learn the lifestyle of the Pawikan.

(The turtles race towards the ocean!)

We learned a number of things in the PCC. Bataan is not the only place in the Philippines that has PCC, but also Tawi-Tawi and Zambales. Marine Turtles, who can age from 60-100 years old, and weigh from 50-600 kilos, can give birth to 1,000 eggs at once. All their activities happen at night. The newly hatched turtles go straight to the ocean; therefore, they're saltwater turtles. 64,000 baby marine turtles released in the wild only have a one or less percent of survival. Different turtles eat different food; however, they still have their enemies; crab, "bayawak", eagle, fish, people who get the eggs, frame, eyeglasses, bracelets, etc.

Marine turtles are important because they make our country unique, and most of all, they are God's creations. On the contrary, they are affected by us humans! How could this be? Littering and exploiting their environment are the main reasons why we are the ones causing their extinction. Fortunately, every problem has a solution! We as students can simply pick up litter, encourage others to join Pawikan-saving programs and avoid littering ourselves. Doing one of these actions can make a big difference.






One of the turtles that you can find here in the Philippines (And the one that we picked) is the "Green Turtle" (Chelonia mydas), who is part of the tribe "Chelonini". What's interesting about the Green Turtle is that it is the only species in the genus Chelonia; moreover, the common name comes from the usually green fat found beneath its carapace. This is one of Pommy's favorites because it interested him the most, and it looked the most familiar to him. He also loved the beautiful sea green color of its shell, and it looks cute. Adults are referred to as herbivores although as hatchlings they are omnivores. Their diet consists primarily of algae, seagrasses, and seaweed. Greens have a finely serrated (sawlike) beak that allows them to scrape algae off rocks and tear grasses and seaweeds. Only human beings and larger sharks, specifically the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) feed on Green Turtles.

(The Green Sea Turtle)

Back at our field trip to the Pawikan Conservation Center, we mentioned a while ago that we released marine turtle hatchlings! We were allowed to name ours, so Pommy named his "Jessica" and "Vanessa", which won the race, Jinx named his "Rabbit", hoping it would win so he could say "My rabbit won the turtle race", Daisy named hers "Gigi" based on a fellow batch mate, and AIM named hers "Wasabi" because it's color looked like the color of wasabi.

Thank you for reading our blog! Hopefully, you learned a thing or two from this, and that you would help in saving marine turtles! Adios, mi Amigos!