Pahang Fisheries Department director Adnan Hussain said the total number of turtle eggs have increased with 34,869 collected during the same period, in comparison to only 24,204 eggs throughout last year.

“Turtles have landed along the 3.5-km Cherating beach and 95 per cent of them are of the Green Turtle species, while the rest are Hawksbill Turtles and Olive Ridley Turtles,” he said.

(However the iconic giant leatherback turtle, which formerly came ashore on the peninsular east coast is now believed to be extinct in Malaysia, with only a handful of infertile nests laid according to a UN report in 2006.)

Adnan said that up to June, there were 25 turtle deaths recorded compared to eight last year.

“The trend of turtle deaths is in tandem with the increase in the numbers of landings,” he told reporters at a turtle awareness and conservation event officiated by the son of the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Tengku Abdullah at Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and Information Centre here yesterday.

The main reason for the deaths was  being hit by boat propellers or being caught unintentionally in trawler fishing nets.

Adnan said the sanctuary centre managed to ensure more than 60 per cent of eggs laid every year were hatched. The biggest achievement for the centre since its establishment was in 2006 with 93.2 per cent of eggs being hatched, he said.