Environmentalist calls for turtle abusers to step forward and admit wrongdoings

KOTA KINABALU: An environmentalist is calling on those who abused a sea turtle by sitting and stepping on it and the tour agents who allowed it to happen to come out and admit their mistake.

The non-governmental organisation - Friends of Sea Turtles Education and Research (FOSTER) said it would be the right thing for them to do after all the fury they have caused on the people of Sabah.

“The tour agent or dive master involved need to own up and come clean,” its president Alexander Yee said in a statement.

He said this following a viral photo which showed a tourist (local or foreign unknown) sitting on a sea turtle, believed to have happened on a boat.

The matter has been condemned on social media.

Though no one seems to know for sure where the incident happened, some are claiming it occurred somewhere in Semporna district during a boat ride around one of the islands.

Yee said the Wildlife officials need to investigate the matter and take action against those involved.

He also said that awareness on the do’s and don’ts involving Sabah’s wildlife needed to be improved.

“It seems more awareness is still needed to prevent such incidents from recurring”, he said.

Yee said it was heart-warming to note that many were concerned about the well-being of sea turtles.