PHOTO TAKEN 13JUL03, Baby turtles, only a few hours old, wait to be released into...

PHOTO TAKEN 13JUL03, Baby turtles, only a few hours old, wait to be released into the sea at the Malacca Turtle Management Centre at Padang Kamunting Beach in Malacca, 200 km south of Kuala Lumpur. Only one out of 1000 turtles released is expected to survive until their adult age of 25 years old. The centre releases between 10,000 to 20,000 turtles every year, and expects to have two female adult turtles a year to come back to lay their eggs after 25 years. It is believed that turtles imprint the location as they crawl into the sea after the hatching and will come back to the same beach to lay their eggs. Picture taken July 13, 2003.