Context
Tarkarli beach, famous for water adventure sports in Maharashtra, has recently recorded an Olive Ridley Turtle nest for the first time.
Important facts about Olive Ridley Turtles
- The Olive Ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
- These turtles are carnivores and get their name from their olive colored carapace.
- They are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
- They are found in warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
- The Odisha’s Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is known as the world’s largest rookery (colony of breeding animals) of sea turtles.
- They are extensively poached for their meat, shell and leather, and eggs.
Sporadic nesting in Maharashtra
- Olive Ridley is considered the most abundant sea turtle in the world, with sporadic nesting in Maharashtra, Goa, and the offshore Andaman Islands.
- In Maharashtra, nesting is recorded across three districts in the southernmost region of the state— Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
- The highest number of nests and hatchlings are recorded in three beaches in Ratnagiri — Guhagar, Velas and Anjarle.
- These beaches also hold an annual Turtle festival in March— a potential hatchling period for the Olive Ridley turtles, when juvenile turtles break the eggshell and crawl to the sea.
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Conservation Status
- They are listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
- They are classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.
Threats to the species
- An ever-increasing debris of plastics, fishing nets, discarded nets, polythene and other garbage dumped in the water.
