The sea turtle conservation programme in Maharashtra gets a much-needed boost as the Maharashtra Mangrove Foundation with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) take up a project of satellite tagging Olive Ridley Turtles visiting the western coast. As part of this project, for the first time for the entire western coast of India, a female Olive Ridley Turtle named 'Prathama' has been successfully satellite-tagged at Velas beach Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra.
Under this project total of five Olive Ridley Sea Turtles will be satellite tagged, said officials of the Maharashtra Mangrove Foundation.
The research project 'Tracking the migratory movements of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (a protected marine species) off the coast of Maharashtra' has been commissioned by the Mangrove Foundation, Maharashtra Forest Department to the WII.
This study will help in understanding the movement pattern and identify the migration path of the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Western India after congregation and nesting, said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Wildlife of the Mangrove Protection Cell Virendra Tiwari.
The team will now tag four more Olive ridley turtles from different beaches in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
Maharashtra, which has the second-largest coastline (720 km) in the western part of the country, is scattered with sea turtle nesting habitats. Many places near the Maharashtra coast is known for nesting places for the Olive Ridley sea turtles, with Velas being one of them. The turtles visit many different beaches in the Konkan region for congregation and nesting
Having a lifespan of upto 100 years, the turtles are essentially migratory but during the breeding season, the females come to the shore, burrow 12-20 inches deep holes in the dry sand and lay around 100-150 eggs there. However, only one per cent are said to survive as the eggs or hatchlings are eaten and destroyed by dogs, other animals and birds. These sea turtle nests have faced major threats due to poaching.
While satellite tagging for turtles in India has been conducted on large scale at the eastern coast of India. The exercise has been taken up for the first time on the west coast starting from Velas beach in Ratnagiri district. A project of satellite tagging of olive ridley turtles has been taken up and a total of five Olive Ridley sea turtles are to be satellite-tagged under this. Of this, the first one has been tagged in Velas beach. The turtle has been named ‘Prathama’ as it was the first to be satellite-tagged and also because it signifies the start of a new era in sea turtle conservation in Maharashtra and the western coast,” said Tiwari
