In important development in turtle conservation, one was tagged and released from Guhagar beach on Tuesday, 2 more on Wednesday
Two turtles named Rewa and Lakshmi were tagged and released on Wednesday
The Mangrove Foundation along with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have successfully tagged three Olive Ridley turtles at Guhagar in Ratnagiri district. With this, a total of five Olive Ridley turtles have been tagged on the west coast. Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) and head of Mangrove Cell, said, “On Tuesday, an Olive Ridley turtle named Vanashree was released from the Guhagar beach. Two more turtles named Rewa and Lakshmi were released on Wednesday.”
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He added, “Earlier Prathama and Saavani were fitted with satellite transmitters from Velas and Anjarle in Ratnagiri, respectively, on January 25. Thus a total of five turtles have been fitted with satellite transmitters on the west coast of India under the sea turtle monitoring project.” Maharashtra coast has sporadic nesting of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. Till now Olive Ridley SeaTurtles have been tagged only on the east coast of India. This is the first satellite tagging project of Olive Ridley Sea Turtle on the Western Coast of India.
Officials with the two tagged Olive Ridley turtles at Guhagar beach, Ratnagiri
The Mangrove Foundation has commissioned a research project ‘Tracking the migratory movements of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Maharashtra’ which will help in understanding the movement pattern of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Western India. The turtles have been tagged as part of it. The findings of this project will help in understanding the population of olive ridley sea turtles on the western coast of India, their migration pattern, foraging ground and their behaviour. The Mangrove Foundation and Mangrove Cell are planning to take up more such research initiatives to strengthen the turtle conservation of Maharashtra.
According to the website of WWFIndia, “Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemp’s ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs. Though found in abundance, their numbers have been declining over the past few years, and the species is recognized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list.”
WWF-India website also states that growing to about 2 feet in length, and 50 kg in weight, the Olive ridley gets its name from its olive colored carapace, which is heart-shaped and rounded. Males and females grow to the same size; however, females have a slightly more rounded carapace as compared to the male. They are carnivores, and feed mainly on jellyfish, shrimp, snails, crabs, molluscs and a variety of fish and their eggs. They spend their entire lives in the ocean, and migrate thousands of kilometres between feeding and mating grounds in the course of a year.
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No. of Olive Ridley turtles tagged on the west coast
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