Sea turtles get their heads in water pipes to eat waste

Images of rare pineapple tortoise and a few fish feeding near the sewage pipes cause concern about pollution on Boracay Island.

Diver Charn Joon Park, 39, discovered the unusual behavior of the female pineapple tortoise on a diving near Bolabog Beach, Boracay Island, Philippines on September 18. The animal ducked its head into the pipe, where the dirty yellow water flowed out, seemingly trying to eat a lot of waste. A few fish swimming around also eat pollutants.

The animal stuck its head into the pipe, seemingly trying to eat a lot of waste.

"I am afraid that the incident may cause the beach to be closed. However, I think people need to know about this," Park said. Pineapple turtles are part of the endangered animal group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Divers and islanders have complained to the authorities. According to Benny Antiporda, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, the Pollution Trial Committee conducted an investigation after watching the video. Water supply company Boracay Tubi System was required to suspend operations to resolve the incident.

The Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources analyzed water samples near the pipeline and obtained positive results for Coliform bacteria. This bacteria is often present in human or animal wastes.

In 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte once commented that Boracay island was like a "fecal tank" due to pollution and was asked to close from April to October to clean up. The island attracted two million visitors in 2017. However, currently the number of tourists is limited and activities such as smoking, drinking on the beach are also prohibited.