Balinese culture is endlessly fascinating and incorporates some ideas that are creative to say the least. The Balinese believe the world rests on a giant turtle (Bedawang) and turtle satay has been a part of Balinese religious life for a long time. There are 2 main types of turtles in Bali, the Green Sea turtle, which is caught for its meat, and the Hawksbill Turtle, which is valued for its shell.
Needless to say that the turtle population is dwindling and in 1999 a local law was passed that made catching turtles illegal, except for religious purposes. Green sea turtles used to be found all over Bali, the females returning to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. Nowadays fishermen catch them offshore and there is an underground trade in Tanjung Benoa.
Bali has organizations dedicated to the protection of turtle including KSBK (0361) 424731 in Denpasar and PPLH ( 0361) 281648 in Sanur.
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The sea turtle slaughter seems really dispicable. I hope that the turtle butcher can be reincarnated as a sea turtle and go through this himself. The slaughter seems as bad as the Seal slaughter we have here in Canada.
Don’t worry Marc, the Turtle Butchers will become the hunted rather than the hunters in the next life. And then they’ll realise the true meaning of Karma. Practice what you preach will have an entirely new meaning.
Less word – Take action – donate to ProFauna Indonesia (www.profauna.or.id). They do wonderful work on sea turtle conservation in Bali and curbs poaching by 80%. Thousands of turtle eggs are protected and thousands of hatchlings already released into the sea.
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