Ridley turtles arrive at the Orissa coast

Mass nesting of turtles begins on Orissa coast
by Sharda Lahangir

Bhubaneshwar: Conservationists, residents and wildlife officials here are keeping vigil as thousands of turtles arrived at the beach for the annual mass nesting. Every year as winter rolls on, various species of turtles move in large synchronised concentrations to three major nesting sites along the Orissa coast by the Bay of Bengal, considered one of the world's major nesting grounds. After the young ones are hatched, the turtles return to the sea. With each turtle laying an estimated 120 eggs, large stretches of nesting grounds are now packed with them. The mass nesting renders a delightful sight. "It happened little bit earlier and it is good. The population at the mass nesting is always very good. The first day, we got around 3,500 eggs, second day, it was enormously higher, it was around 80,000. The most part of the beach i.e. 3.3 kilometres was used by turtles," said AK Jena, a district forest officer. A scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India said the turtles migrate to the south towards Sri Lanka. "The research in Orissa shows the turtles are migratory. They don't remain at the Orissa coast throughout the year. They remain here from November till April-May and thereafter they migrate towards the south. The results indicate that the turtles migrate up to Sri Lanka ," said Basudev Tripathy, a scientist with Wildlife Institute of India. Experts say turtles are particularly vulnerable because of high mortality rates. According to studies, only one out of every 1,000 hatchlings normally reaches adulthood. The reptiles are mangled by fishing trawler propellers, or suffocated in fishermen's gill nets. They are also killed by pollution, and by poachers, who hunt them for their meat. The Orissa Government has declared the whole nesting area a marine sanctuary and has banned mechanised trawlers in the state. Besides, it is also urging fishermen to include turtle excluding devices in their fishing equipment.
- Feb 19, 2009