Advance visit of Olive Ridleys spreads cheer

Kozhikode: Much to the delight of the turtle-lovers, Olive Ridleys, the smallest of marine turtles, have started coming to Kolavipalam, 50 km from the city, near Payyoli, after a gap of three weeks.

Volunteers of Theeram Nature Conservation Society who have been diligently protecting the endangered species and its eggs from predators, including some health-conscious men, managed to gather 165 eggs from the Payyoli beach three days ago.

It is from September to March that Olive Ridleys lay eggs at Payyoli and Kolavipalam. This time, the egg-laying season started in July. About 230 eggs were collected and kept in a hatchery that the volunteers had built, but most of these perished in strong rain.

In September alone, about 90 eggs were lost because of adverse weather conditions. Theeram society president M.J. Suresh Babu said 707 eggs had been collected so far. As many as 384 are expected to hatch, he said.

Olive Ridleys lay eggs in holes they make on loose beach sand, about 30 metres into the shore.

The turtles then cover these pits with sand and return to the sea, erasing all signs of their visit. The eggs take up to 60 days to hatch.

The offspring, each around 30 gm, have an uncanny knack of finding their way into the sea.

Gahirmatha in Orissa is the other major nesting place of Olive Ridleys in India. Volunteers of the society have so far supervised the hatching of nearly 50,000 Olive Ridley eggs.

Habitat degradation

The State Forest and Wildlife Department had been supporting the society since 1998. The society had warned that the habitat of Olive Ridleys at Kolavipalam was getting degraded because of indiscriminate sand-mining there.

Source: The Hindu, 7-12-2010

Conservationists worried over safety as endangered Olive Ridleys arrive

BHUBANESWAR: With the endangered Olive Ridley turtles already reaching the coastal waters at Gahirmatha, concern over their safety has begun to worry conservationists.

Since decades carcasses of the sea turtles lying along the Odisha coast, especially close to their mass nestling sites at Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and mouths of Rushikulya and Devi rivers, have been common sight. This year, too, wildlife activists feel things would be no different, notwithstanding the state government's claims of having adopted numerous measures to protect the large reptiles.

The sea turtles, according to senior scientist (state wildlife) C S Kar, have started arriving at the shallow coastal waters in the Odisha's coast to keep their annual date for mass nestling (also called arribada), which normally starts in late October and continues till March. Odisha coast is considered the only place apart from Costa Rica to witness mass nesting by Olive Ridleys (some nestling also takes place in Mexico).

Conservationist groups, in tune with the over decade old trend, predict a sad story: around 10,000 of these endangered guests are sure to perish. "At least 8,000 to 10,000 turtles are washed ashore every year. The putrefying bodies of Olive Ridleys are usually seen at Satbhaya, Konark, Devi river mouth and Kujang coast. Not even God can save them," said secretary, Wildlife Society of Odisha, Biswajit Mohanty.

According to conservationists and government officials, the major reason for turtle casualty is the use of fishing nets and lack of enforcement of legal provisions. "Despite a Supreme Court guideline in 2004, intensive trawling activities continue unabated. Though it is legally mandatory the vessels refuse to use turtle excluder device (TED), a simple metallic implement which can help turtles escape without causing loss to fish catch. The government and NGOs a few years back even distributed 3000 TEDs free of cost. Yet, the trawlers have not fitted those, leading to turtles getting trapped and killed," pointed out a senior wildlife officer.

Environmental bodies, including Greenpeace and People for Animals, have been repeatedly raising concern over the high mortality of Ridleys, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Mohanty, who is coordinator of Operation Kacchapa, said at least 1.5 lakh dead turtles have been counted on the Odisha coast since the last 15 years. "This does not include at least twice the number washed away to deep sea," he added.

Principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), P N Padhi, however, discounted the allegation. "We count the carcasses every year and during the turn of the millennium the annual mortality figure has sharply declined, from between 10,000 and 15,000 to between 3000 and 5000. Each year we set up a large number of onshore camps for turtle safety."

"Between five lakh to 10 lakh turtles come to the state every year. Can a casualty rate of 0.5 to one per cent be considered high?" Padhi asked, adding, "When such a large number of turtles arrive it would be foolish to claim that there can be zero casualties. But we are taking requisite steps to protect them."

State forest and environment secretary Arabinda Behera said the government is doing all that is necessary to ensure a "safe" journey for the turtles. "We will certainly try to curb casualty of Olive Ridleys to the maximum extent and also ensure they get conducive environment for nestling," Behera said.

The state government, incidentally, has since the last few years made a special budgetary head for protection of turtles and also planned to establish a sea turtle research centre at Rushikulya river mouth. "The government has been taking certain measures to curb turtle mortality and banning fishing by mechanized boats (up to 10 km from the shoreline) and trawlers (up 20 km) from November to May," an officer said.

Conservationists are, however, far from convinced and worried over the massive dredging operations for a port at Dhamra (about 12 km from the mass nesting site at Nasi Island) besides proposals for ports at Astaranga and Palur. "All the three mass nesting sites on Odisha coast are now in danger because of proposed ports. Since turtle nesting beaches are fragile and can be easily lost due to natural reasons like cyclones and tsunamis, hence it is important that all the three mass nesting sites on Odisha coast be preserved so that if one is lost the turtles still have a chance to use the other beaches. Else, Odisha will meet the same fate as Mexico, which were deserted by turtles in the 1960s because of trawling," Mohanty warned.

Source: Times of India, 9-11-2010