Context:
In the past two weeks, several dead olive ridley turtles have been found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, especially in Chennai.
More on the News:
- Experts have estimated that so far, between 300 and 350 turtles have been found dead.
- While turtle deaths during nesting season are common, the high number of carcasses found in Neelankarai, Besant Nagar, and Kovalam has raised concerns.
Causes of the Deaths:
- Turtles often mate and nest near the shore, where they are vulnerable to getting trapped in commercial fishing nets, particularly those used by trawlers.
- Post-mortem examinations of the dead turtles have revealed signs of suffocation, such as lesions on the lungs, indicating that the turtles likely drowned.
Olive Ridley Turtle
- Scientifically known as Lepidochelys olivacea, they are one of the smallest and most abundant sea turtles in the world.
- These turtles are omnivorous and named for their olive-coloured, heart-shaped shells.
- They are primarily found in the warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
- They grow up to 80 cm, weigh less than 50 kg, and live up to around 62 years.
- It is classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List.
- It is also listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
- International trade of these turtles and their products is prohibited under CITES Appendix I.
Nesting season
- They have unique mass nesting behaviour, known as “arribada,” where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay their eggs.
- Their nesting season begins in late November and ends in March.
- Olive ridley turtles lay their eggs on sandy beaches, and India is home to some of the most important nesting sites.
• Odisha’s Gahirmatha and Rushikulya beaches see the arrival of lakhs of female turtles each year, where they lay between 100-110 eggs in shallow nests.
- Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is the world’s largest and most important nesting beach for olive ridley sea turtles.
• The turtles cover the nests with sand to protect the eggs from predators before returning to the sea. After 45-60 days, the hatchlings emerge and make their way to the ocean.
• Only one in about 1,000 turtle hatchlings survive to adulthood.
Potential Solutions:
- There is a need for stricter enforcement of turtle-excluding devices (TEDs) in fishing nets. These devices allow accidental bycatch, such as turtles, to escape from the nets, reducing the risk of entanglement.
- To protect the eggs from predators and human disturbance, Forest Departments sometimes create hatcheries.
- The eggs are carefully moved from the nests to these hatcheries, and once the hatchlings emerge, they are released near the sea to start their journey.