The Turtle and the Shark Samoan Legend

The Samoa leader, 17th century. Turtle in difficulty

Samoan people thought that tortoises had the capacity to rescue fisherman who were losing them at Sea by taking them ashore. Samoan for turtle, âI'a sa,â translated as âsacred fishâ, probably because of this aptitude. That is why it is particularly regrettable that the number of tortoises in Samoa has fallen so sharply that they are now regarded as threatened varieties.

Though it is hard to tell how many animals are still remaining, it is clear that few female animals produce an egg every year. There are two types of tortoises, the hawkbill and the greensbill, which are the most common in our area. Falcon's beak or âlaumei ugaâ (Eretmochelys imbricata) is usually the kind that is nesting on the Tutuila beach.

When they have laid their egg, the adults turn around and return to their remote feed sites. This is the fundamental design for most marine turtles around the globe. Float far away from any nest site, then return to your food area and back and forth every few years.

We' ve got some very interesting migratory information for the Rose Atlas (see chart below), where a dayging survey was carried out in the mid-1990s. Altogether 10 marked tortoises were salvaged after they nested at the tunnel. It' s easy to understand why the grown tortoises don't remain in the Rose Atlas after they have nested, because their favourite fodder (sea grass) is missing.

I wonder why they don't just remain in Fiji, where they have both seaweed and nestbeach. However, this patterns of large-scale movement between a turtle's nest area and the foraging area means that the turtle populations in the South Pacific are intermingled. Whilst some of our tortoises have been captured in Fiji, the inverse is also real - tortoises that live in our water probably come from offshore archipelagos in the South Pacific.

This means that regional co-operation between South Pacific archipelagos is vital; otherwise, while we are trying to save tortoises in American Samoa, our tortoises could be slaughtered later when they move to other isles. In American Samoa there are strict national and regional legislation to safeguard tortoises and their livelihood.

There is a fine of $500 to $250,000 and up to one year in prison, subject to conditions, for slaughtering a turtle or the import of turtle products into the territory (mussels, filled tortoises, turtle crests, etc.). Luckily, fewer tortoises seem to be caught in American Samoa, probably because of their shortage, but also because of the educational programmes that educate kids and village people about the vulnerable turtle state.

As well as educational work, we must safeguard both the tortoises and their environment. Sands are indispensable for turtle breeding grounds, so the sands are pulled away from our shores, leading to the depletion of crucial habitats for these fish. There are no beach, no turtle nests. Even though some village people still like to have turtle flesh and egg, it should be remembered that tortoises are a vanishing commodity in American Samoa.

These are Samoan inheritance and must be energetically guarded, or they can be completely wasted. It' s a disappointing comment that many young Samoans have never seen a living turtle before. The Samoans used to harvest tortoises as their traditional diet, and the shell was often used as a bracelet, comb and fish hook and also in the headstall of a princess at important dancing events.

Turtle have been integrated into Samoan music and artwork, and there are even turtle petrolroglyphs (rock paintings) in Mt. and.... And of course there is the legend of the turtle and the shark that appear in the ocean near Vaitogi when the village inhabitants are singing a particular tune. Not known, but after all they live in a food area that is perhaps far away from American Samoa.

The decrease reflects the global decrease in the number of marine tortoises due to overfishing, lost nest sites and accidental killings of fishing-equipment. According to a recent research, one of our species' hawk's beak population in the West is nearing extinction.