Sabah probing viral video of mistreated sea turtle

The Star

The Sabah Wildlife Department is investiga­ting a viral video showing a group of divers forcibly restraining a struggling sea turtle while posing for the camera.  Its director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar said many have claimed the location of the incident to be Pulau Manukan, a popular island off Kota Kinabalu.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/53e7w59z  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00The Sabah Wildlife Department is investigating a viral video showing a group of divers forcibly

00:07restraining a struggling sea turtle while posing for the camera.

00:12Its director, Mohamed Sofian Abu Bakar, said many have claimed the location of the incident

00:17to be Pulau Manukan, a popular island off Kota Kinabalu.

00:22The department is currently looking into the matter.

00:25The 30-second video, shared by the Tropical Research and Conservation Centre, TRACC, at

00:31around 5pm on Tuesday, has sparked widespread concern.

00:35Experts warn that handling wild turtles in such a manner can cause extreme stress, potentially

00:41leading to injury or death.

00:43This is not the first case of divers mishandling marine life in Sabah.

00:48In June 2024, authorities investigated a similar incident involving divers touching a sea turtle

00:55and engaging in illegal spearfishing near an island off Semporna.

01:00Under the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, sea turtles are fully protected, making

01:06it illegal to disturb or handle them without authorization.

01:10Violators face legal action, including fines.

01:14TRACC has urged the public to help identify the divers and confirm the exact location

01:21of the incident.

01:25For more information, visit www.fema.gov

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