Seven turtles rescued along Maharashtra's west coast in one day

The Mangroves Cell has a marine respondents group in coastal district to rescue the turtles

With the continuous moderate to heavy rainfall at many places along the west coast of Maharashtra, there has been an increase in incidents of turtle rescues. On Monday a total of seven sea turtles were rescued from the coast of Maharashtra while in last one month, around 20 have been rescued from several beaches in Palghar district.

At present, the Mangroves Cell of the forest department has a marine respondents group in costal district of Mumbai-Thane-Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and the formation of the group for Sindhudurg is under consideration.

"Due to the presence of mind shown by the fishermen and the coordination between the marine respondent group that we have in place, a total of seven sea turtles were rescued from the coast of Maharashtra which includes three from Palghar, two from Sindhudurg and one each from Ratnagiri and Raigad," a forest department official said.

NGO Wildlife Conservation and Animal Welfare Association (WCAWA) along with veterinarian Dr Dinesh Vinherkar, who has been working in the field of turtle conservation, have also been saving life of several turtles which wash ashore in Palghar district.

Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of injured and dead marine creatures, including turtles, getting washed on the shore between Mumbai and Dahanu. The injured turtles are treated by Dr Vinherkar at the Injured Sea Turtle and Wildlife Treatment Centre the Dahanu Forest Division and supported by WCAWA.

Dhaval Kansara, Honorary Wildlife Warden of Palghar said, "During monsoon, with the water being choppy and with the high tides, turtles which are either injured or too weak to swim get washed ashore. In last one month, we have rescued a total of 19 Olive Ridley turtles from branches in Palghar and one Hawk Bill turtle. Majority of them were injured with damaged flippers. Around four have died despite taking all the best possible efforts to save them."

Fisheries Commissioner Atul Patne said, "It's good to see that members from the fishing community and marine enthusiasts are coming forward to help the marine creatures in distress and saving their life. Fisheries and animal husbandry department have plans to set up centres in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg were injured turtles or marine creatures can be treated on priority along with the animal husbandry department vets."

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