Boracay teams rescue two critically endangered hawksbills

ILOILO CITY — Two critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles were rescued and released in Boracay Island, Aklan, within a week in August after residents and responders found the animals in distress.

The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office Boracay worked with community members to rescue the turtles, highlighting the role of local residents in wildlife protection on the resort island.

The first rescue took place Aug. 11 at Boracay’s Station 2, where beach cleaner Archie Torres found a juvenile hawksbill sea turtle entangled in discarded fishing nets along the shoreline.

Torres alerted responders, who called technical personnel from CENRO Boracay to assess the turtle.

The turtle measured 30.48 centimeters in curved carapace length and 27.43 centimeters in curved carapace width.

CENRO personnel found the turtle highly active and without visible external injuries before releasing it into the calmer waters of Tulubhan Beach.

A second rescue took place Aug. 18 at Station 1, where lifeguard Jay Louis Delo Santos found a hawksbill hatchling being pushed ashore by rough surface swells.

The hatchling measured 6 centimeters long and 5.5 centimeters wide and weighed 170 grams.

Delo Santos turned the hatchling over to CENRO Boracay for a health assessment before it was released at Bulabog Beach, where responders observed gentler water conditions.

The hawksbill sea turtle, or Eretmochelys imbricata, is classified as critically endangered and faces threats from habitat loss, coastal development, marine pollution, fishing gear and illegal wildlife trade.

The species is particularly vulnerable to poaching because of its distinctive shell, which has historically been used to make tortoiseshell products.

“Conservation cannot succeed through policy or government agencies alone—it depends on the cooperation of people in the community. These dual rescues show that when watchful community members and quick response teams work together, critically endangered species like Hawksbill get the chance they need to thrive,” said Ramar Niel V. Pascua, officer in charge and regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 6.

DENR said the two releases underscore the importance of community cooperation in protecting marine wildlife in Boracay and other coastal areas.

The agency urged residents, tourism workers and visitors to keep shorelines clean, report stranded or entangled wildlife to authorities and avoid disturbing marine habitats. (DENR6/MML)