Aired (January 26, 2025): In this episode, Doc Nielsen and Doc Ferds travel to Basilan and Sulu to witness the challenges sea turtles endure in heavily polluted waters. Watch the video for the full story.
Watch the video for the full story!
Watch the video for the full story!
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00So we're going to prepare now to dive, not just a dive though, in Sulu.
00:12We're on our way, when I noticed a diver with me,
00:17a fish that is weak and almost unable to move.
00:23The fish has a tumor.
00:25We need to lift it up because it has a severe tumor.
00:28Let's see what we can do.
00:30Let's go!
00:34In 2018, in Haji Mutamad, Basilan,
00:38This is where the fish are caught.
00:4240 fish were caught and the authorities are collecting them.
00:47The caught fish are sold and eaten.
00:53Look at this. This is the part of the island where there's a lot of garbage.
00:56It's hard to find because it is obstructed.
01:08The beauty of Sulu,
01:11is not only in their forests,
01:15but also in the depths of their oceans.
01:18That's why I haven't been able to dive in one of the dive sites here,
01:29Panglima Tahil.
01:32But our fun dive,
01:35seems like we're going home in an emergency.
01:48It's still early, but we're ready to dive.
01:52It's a perfect day to dive.
01:55There's no current.
01:58Nice weather.
02:02According to the residents,
02:05this island is known to be inhabited by fish.
02:09That's why we will try to see them.
02:12When we dive,
02:16a sea snake immediately jumped on me.
02:23Even though they're not aggressive,
02:26we still have to be careful.
02:29Especially since they have a leader.
02:32After a few minutes,
02:35we saw something.
02:38A nearby big fish.
02:43Next to it,
02:45is another fish that is a resident of the island.
02:51It's a sea snake.
02:54It's a sea snake.
02:56It's a sea snake.
02:58It's a sea snake.
02:59It's a sea snake.
03:02It's Donatello.
03:04They're both small.
03:06This is what any animal should be able to see in the sea.
03:12We're on our way,
03:14when suddenly,
03:16my diver noticed something.
03:19From a distance,
03:21it looks like a big rock full of moss.
03:25But when we approached it,
03:28it's just a rock.
03:32On my first dive in Panglima Tahil in Sunu,
03:37we were able to capture the beauty and richness of their ocean.
03:43But underneath,
03:45something fell on us.
03:50A rock
03:52that we thought was dead.
03:53But to our surprise,
03:55it's still alive
03:57and in critical condition.
04:00Our decision was also critical.
04:05We decided to lift it up and help it.
04:10Almost at the end of a flip or flip of the rod.
04:14The rod has a tumor.
04:16The rod has a tumor.
04:18The rod has a tumor.
04:24We need to lift it up because it has a lot of tumors.
04:28Let's see what we can do.
04:40What a dive.
04:42We didn't expect to see
04:44a turtle that needs help.
04:46I was divided.
04:48Sometimes, you have to let nature take its course.
04:51But I was pitiful.
04:53Usually, turtles
04:55stay underwater for a long time when they breathe.
04:59But this one,
05:01it only breathed three times,
05:03which is not normal for a sea turtle.
05:05It's really hard for it to stay underwater.
05:07This is where I saw the concern and concern
05:11of my team and the residents of the turtle.
05:16Our next step
05:19is to lift it up.
05:22The whole team decided to bring the turtle up
05:26so we can examine and see what we can do.
05:29We can operate on it and take out the tumor.
05:32The turtle's condition is 50-50.
05:35So, we decided to operate on it.
05:38Because its body is almost full of tumors,
05:56it has 15 tumors.
06:08Just do nerve blocking
06:10by using some local anesthesia.
06:15This is just to minimize the bleeding.
06:25Look at that.
06:27The neck of the tumor.
06:28Look at the tumor.
06:58I was with some of the residents of Sulu
07:01in treating the turtle.
07:03Taking out
07:05the first tumor.
07:08The skin is thick.
07:12If not treated,
07:14the turtle can become weak and die.
07:18It's really hard to get the roots.
07:22That's a tumor.
07:24We have to excise it completely.
07:26I think we're almost
07:28done with the side.
07:30It's really hard to get the roots.
07:34That's a tumor.
07:36We have to excise it completely.
07:39I think we're almost
07:41done with the side.
07:49I'm going to stitch up.
07:57Now, we're going to work on the neck area
08:02towards the right flipper.
08:15My last two stitches
08:17and
08:20we're done
08:22with the
08:24marungas.
08:26This is an
08:27old name of this place.
08:28I'm going to give
08:30antibiotics and pain reliever
08:32to our patient.
08:34In no time,
08:35we're going to bring him back to the sea
08:37so we can document his swimming
08:39so he can be a brand new turtle.
08:42Marungas' surgery was a success.
08:46It took us an hour
08:48to operate
08:50Marungas.
08:53These are the tumors we removed.
08:55All these tumors
08:56we were able to take out.
08:58It's time to release Marungas.
09:04Before we let him go,
09:06I checked
09:08if he has enough strength to swim.
09:11Wow, look at this.
09:13Our patient
09:14is ready to swim
09:15without all those tumors.
09:17Nice save, you know.
09:18This is a great day for all of us
09:21because we just came here
09:23to see the resident
09:24sea turtles.
09:25But
09:26this is what we encountered.
09:28We encountered
09:30a sea turtle
09:31that needs help.
09:33When we put Marungas in the water,
09:36he suddenly
09:37and seemingly
09:38regained his strength.
09:42So we slowly
09:43released Marungas
09:45back to his home,
09:48the sea.
09:55Now,
09:56Marungas
09:57is able to swim again
09:58in the 5th wave.
10:01He is strong
10:02and in a good condition.
10:07In every expedition
10:08that we go to,
10:11we try our best
10:13especially
10:14in unexpected situations.
10:17And no matter
10:18the situation
10:19of their lives
10:20that we face,
10:22we are ready
10:23to help
10:24in order to
10:25save
10:26and reduce
10:27their suffering.
10:37The sea is calm.
10:39The sea turtles
10:40are calm.
10:42The sea turtles
10:43are calm.
10:45But
10:46the sea turtles
10:48are busy with their food
10:50that can be seen
10:51in the corals.
11:04These two
11:05seem to have
11:06something to talk about.
11:09Until
11:10their peaceful life
11:12was surrounded
11:13by fear.
11:16They were caught
11:17by humans
11:18and eaten.
11:20The fish
11:21are here.
11:27They are fighting.
11:29Four people
11:30were killed
11:31because of
11:32their food.
11:34The sea turtles
11:35are the only
11:36survivors
11:37in the life
11:38of the sea turtles
11:39that seems
11:40to have increased.
11:54Residents of
11:55Langil Island,
11:56Basilan,
11:57said that
11:58there are a lot
11:59of sea turtles.
12:00That's why
12:01for the first time,
12:02we will try
12:03to document this.
12:07We want to see
12:08the sea turtles
12:09that are below.
12:10Let's see
12:11if they are calmer.
12:18In our investigation,
12:20the sea turtles
12:21became frightened.
12:24The sea turtles
12:25seem to be camera shy.
12:30They left
12:31as soon as they saw me.
12:37To prevent them
12:38from getting scared,
12:39we used a drone.
12:41This one is
12:42good at
12:43eating alone.
12:46Another sea turtle
12:47is also close to him.
12:50But I learned
12:51about the situation
12:52of the sea turtles there.
12:59I learned about
13:00the situation
13:01of the sea turtles there.
13:02They were caught
13:03by humans
13:04to eat.
13:07In the past,
13:08sea turtles
13:09were caught
13:10by humans
13:11to eat.
13:12There is no record
13:13of how many sea turtles
13:14were caught by humans
13:15in the past.
13:16Until now.
13:18Until now.
13:19Humans are ignorant.
13:23Everything changed
13:24now.
13:25Because instead of
13:26being caught,
13:27they were saved
13:28by humans
13:29to return
13:30to the wild.
13:32In this batch,
13:33I saw
13:34more than
13:3510 sea turtles.
13:38Why did you keep them?
13:39For protection.
13:40Protection from them?
13:41There are more chances
13:42that they will live.
13:43Although not all of them,
13:44but as a majority
13:45of them,
13:46they will live.
13:47Like,
13:48if they are still
13:49in the dock,
13:50but there are
13:51many threats.
13:52They will eat
13:53fish.
13:54They will eat
13:55birds.
13:58This one is
13:59one month old
14:00in the care
14:01of the captain.
14:03He feeds
14:04fish.
14:08Green Sea Turtle
14:09and Hawksbill Turtle
14:10are the species
14:11of sea turtles
14:12that can be seen
14:13on the island.
14:16They plan
14:17to return them
14:18to the sea
14:19when the sea turtles
14:20are big enough.
14:22But because
14:23the sea turtles
14:24are in the dock
14:25with water,
14:26it is possible
14:27that their
14:28natural instinct
14:29will disappear.
14:31We need to return them
14:32because otherwise,
14:33they will not learn
14:34how to survive
14:35in the wild.
14:36Like,
14:37they will
14:38get their own food
14:39because
14:40they are used to
14:41being fed here.
14:42Yes.
14:46At the moment,
14:47they are destroying
14:48the prison
14:49for the sea turtles.
14:52In 2018,
14:53in Haji Mutamad,
14:54Basilan,
14:55they are slaughtering
14:56the sea turtles here.
14:5740 sea turtles
14:58were killed
14:59and the authorities
15:00chased them away.
15:03The slaughtered
15:04sea turtles
15:05were sold
15:06and eaten
15:07while
15:08more than
15:0920 sea turtles
15:10are still alive
15:11and clean.
15:15When I went around
15:16the island,
15:17I saw a new
15:18threat
15:19to the sea turtles.
15:21The garbage
15:22in the sea.
15:23While we were
15:24walking here
15:25in the beach
15:26of Langil,
15:27we noticed
15:28these sea turtle
15:29tracks.
15:31It went here
15:32and then
15:33it came back.
15:34Look at this.
15:35This is the part
15:36of the island
15:37where there's a lot
15:38of garbage.
15:39Maybe,
15:40when it was looking
15:41for a place to dig,
15:42it couldn't find it
15:43because it was
15:44obstructed.
15:45There's a lot
15:46of garbage
15:47and wood
15:48buried here.
15:49Maybe,
15:50this is one of the
15:51reasons why
15:52it came back
15:53and explored
15:54other areas.
15:55When we flew
15:56the drone again,
15:57we saw
15:58a turtle
15:59in the sea.
16:00We followed it
16:01until it reached
16:02the part
16:03of the sea
16:04where there's
16:05a lot of garbage.
16:12It covered it
16:13and ate it
16:14one by one.
16:20The garbage
16:21was with it
16:22when it swam.
16:24Only one
16:25turtle
16:26was left
16:27with the garbage
16:28in the sea.
16:31According to
16:32Dr. Deyo Onda,
16:33an oceanographer,
16:36garbage
16:37is not only
16:38found in the
16:39shallow parts
16:40of the sea.
16:41This is the
16:42deepest part
16:43of the Philippines.
16:44We're showing
16:45a raw depth
16:46of 10,045 meters.
16:47Third deepest
16:48place on the planet.
16:50Even
16:51in the bottom
16:52of the sea.
16:53Plastics down there
16:54is already alarming
16:55because why is there
16:56plastic in the
16:57deepest part
16:58of the Philippines?
16:59This is an indication
17:00of how much
17:01plastic is
17:02under the sea.
17:03Plastics that are
17:04not easily
17:05seen by humans
17:06are more alarming
17:07now.
17:08These are
17:09microplastics
17:10that can possibly
17:11affect the
17:12sea
17:13like the
17:14ocean.
17:15The problem
17:16with plastics
17:17is that they're
17:18not the same material.
17:19Plastics have
17:20many small
17:21organisms
17:22and bacteria
17:23attached to them.
17:24Those bacteria
17:25can also
17:26produce poison
17:27or even
17:28cause diseases.
17:29Last November,
17:30more than
17:3130 people
17:32ate fish
17:33in Maguindanao
17:34del Norte.
17:35Four people
17:36died here.
17:37There was
17:38one person
17:39who was
17:40arrested
17:41but the fish
17:42was alive
17:43when they
17:44caught him.
17:45Toxicive
17:46is the
17:47cause of
17:48cancer
17:49and the
17:50death
17:51of victims.
17:52It is a
17:53type of
17:54food poison
17:55that is
17:56obtained
17:57from eating
17:58fish.
17:59It is
18:00painful
18:01and
18:02contagious.
18:03This is
18:04just one
18:05of the
18:06symptoms
18:07of
18:08kilonotoxicive.
18:09Aside from
18:10toxic,
18:11salmonella
18:12can also
18:13affect
18:14the
18:15health
18:16of people.
18:17To date,
18:18studies are
18:19still ongoing
18:20on
18:21kilonotoxicive
18:22in fish.
18:23Those who
18:24survived
18:25still need
18:26to be
18:27monitored
18:28every
18:29day.
18:30In
18:312025,
18:32one of the
18:33IEC's
18:34contents
18:35will be
18:36the
18:37localized
18:38IEC.
18:39Most
18:40of our
18:41residents
18:42haven't
18:43studied yet.
18:44Before
18:45we left
18:46the island,
18:47we gave
18:48an educational
18:49campaign
18:50on how
18:51to take
18:52more
18:53care of
18:54the fish
18:55in their
18:56natural
18:57habitat.
18:58We
18:59trained
19:00turtles
19:01alone
19:02until
19:03she has
19:04laid
19:05all the
19:06eggs.
19:07This
19:08island is
19:09one of the
19:10most beautiful
19:11islands I
19:12have seen.
19:13Last
19:14night,
19:15the
19:16baby
19:17fish
19:18were taken
19:19away from
19:20the
19:21island.
19:22I
19:23just
19:24wish
19:25them
19:26a
19:27happy
19:28new
19:29year.
19:30I
19:31hope
19:32you
19:33will
19:34be
19:35happy
19:36too.
19:37Thank
19:38you.
19:39I
19:40will
19:41miss
19:42you.
19:43Thank
19:44you.
19:45Thank
19:46you.
19:47Thank
19:48you.
19:49Thank
19:50you.
19:51Thank
19:52you.
19:53Thank
19:54you.
19:55Thank
19:56you.
19:57Thank
19:58you.
19:59Thank
20:00you.
20:01Thank
20:02you.
20:03Thank
20:04you.
20:05Thank
20:06you.
20:07Thank
20:08you.
20:09Thank
20:10you.
20:11Thank
20:12you.
20:13Thank
20:14you.
20:15Thank
20:16you.
20:17Thank
20:18you.
20:19Thank
20:20you.
20:21Thank
20:22you.
20:23Thank