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Nesting of Olive Ridley turtles begins early

A large number of Olive Ridley turtles have begun emerging from the sea for mass nesting on Orissa's beach.

     Hrishikulya (Orissa): Every year as winter rolls around, the Olive Ridleys move in large numbers to three major nesting sites along the Orissa coast by the Bay of Bengal, before returning to the sea. Hrishikulya beach is one of the world's major nesting grounds for the benign reatures.Conservationists said the mass nesting started early this year by almost a month ahead. "Since the last three-four years, the beach has been witnessing mass nesting around February-March. Only thing is that, a new phenomenon has taken place, this year, the nesting has begun earlier. Last year it started from March 10, this year it has a little earlier, from February 16," said Biswajit Mohanty, wildlife expert. Mohanty added that the number of the turtles that came for nesting showed a significant increase as well. "I feel that the figures will also be good. This year also so far 40,000 sea turtles have nested in the first two days. The nesting process is underway and we expect more turtles to nest here," he added. Mohanty and other wildlife officials are also marking the nesting turtles to protect them from poachers.

An Olive Ridley turtle laying eggs on Orissa's beach

     With each turtle laying an estimated 120 eggs, large stretches of the state's Hrishikulya coastline are now packed with them. Locals said there was an urgent need to legally protect the area in order to save the species and were doing all that they could. "The turtles come as guests here and we take full care of them in the entire season. We undertake protection of the eggs," Rishi, a local said. Wildlife officials say over 250,000 turtles make their annual trek to the nesting sites. Last year over one million turtles came to the Orissa shores to dig sand pits and lay eggs, the largest concentration being at Gohirmatha beach. In the year 2000, only 700,000 turtles arrived. In 1997 and 1998, the turtles skipped the annual ritual and there was no mass nesting at all. The Olive Ridley turtle, which can grow up to 75 cm (2.5 feet) in length, is found in tropical regions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

     Such large concentrations only occur at a few sites in the world. But if Orissa is the turtles' largest nesting ground, wildlife activists say it is also their biggest graveyard. Though protected under a federal law, in the past five years over 50,000 turtles have either been mangled by fishing trawler propellers or suffocated in fishermen's gill nets. The Orissa state government has declared the whole nesting area a marine sanctuary and has banned mechanised trawlers in the state. Besides it is also urging local fishermen to include Turtle Excluding Devices (TED) in their fishing equipment. But though fishing is restricted around the marine sanctuary, mechanised trawlers move freely scouring the sea floor within 200-300 metres of the sanctuary. The turtles are vulnerable because of high mortality rates. According to studies, only one out of every 1,000 hatchlings normally reaches adulthood.
Feb 19, 2005                                            

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