100,000 Eggs: A Conservation Milestone on Pom Pom Island, Borneo
A Milestone Reached!
Three times a day, our turtle management team walk around the island searching for nesting turtles or newly laid nests, carefully monitoring the beaches and looking for opportunities to protect the next generation of sea turtles.
This work is especially important because Pom Pom Island is one of the key nesting and feeding sites for Green and Hawksbill turtles in the Semporna region. Turtles nest on the island throughout the year, with peak nesting occurring between July and November.
When a nest is located, the eggs are carefully collected and relocated to our hatchery. We relocate the eggs to protect them against invasive predators on the island and poaching in the area. Egg poaching continues to be a significant threat to turtle populations, making the protection of nests a vital part of local conservation efforts.
With patience and careful handling, our eggs have a higher chance of success and the hatchlings have a stronger start to their journey to the ocean.
When the turtle hatchlings appear, we release them back on the beach. Our turtle releases adhere to strict rules to ensure that the hatchlings are not disturbed and are able to walk towards the water in the most natural way possible.
These releases represent the culmination of weeks of care and monitoring. From the safety of the hatchery, the hatchlings emerge and begin the first stage of an extraordinary journey, making their way across the sand and into the sea.
Since the start of our turtle conservation efforts in 2019, our dedicated turtle management team at TRACC have hit, and surpassed, a huge milestone.
In March 2026, we officially reached 100,000 eggs relocated to our hatchery. As of mid-2026, that figure stands at 108,375!
Behind that number lies years of commitment, patience and daily conservation work. Reaching 100,000 eggs is more than a milestone. It represents thousands of beach patrols, countless protected nests, and years of dedication from the turtle management team. Every egg relocated is another opportunity to safeguard vulnerable hatchlings during the earliest stage of life.
As the program continues to grow, so does its impact. More than 108,000 eggs have now been relocated, helping to give thousands of hatchlings a better chance of survival and contributing to the long-term protection of sea turtles in the region.
By TRACC. The Tropical Research and Conservation Centre is a marine conservation organization based in the Celebes Sea dedicated to protecting sea turtles and restoring coral reefs destroyed by the local fish bombing practices of Malaysia.
As we celebrate 25 years of the IOSEA Marine Turtle MOU, we showcase some of the people, initiatives and communities that have contributed to marine turtle conservation across the region. Visit our Story Map to discover their stories.