The city’s beaches may see the birth of 44,000 Olive Ridley turtles this nesting season. Already, 16,000 hatchlings have been released into the bay safely. The remaining are yet to hatch. The incubation period is still on, said K. Geethanjali, Wildlife Warden, Chennai.
“We did not have natural calamities such as flood or cyclone. It is one of the reasons [for the large number of hatchlings],” she says. Besides, this year there has been an awareness drive among fishermen to fit turtle excluder devices to save the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
In 2016-17, about 15,500 eggs were collected and 14,000 hatchlings were released. That year, Vardah had caused widespread damage in the city at the beginning of the nesting season. In 2015-16, in the aftermath of the December 2015 deluge, only 8,646 hatchlings were released.
Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network and Tree Foundation are also involved in collecting the eggs and releasing the hatchlings.
The Forest Department has taken up the task of Olive Ridley conservation at the Chennai and Kancheepuram beaches from 2012 with renewed focus and more funds from the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity and Greening project.
Fewer deaths recorded
Supraja Dharini, managing trustee of TREE Foundation, said they had found 406 nests on the coast in Kancheepuram.
“We found the last nest around four days back and will probably find a couple of stray nests over the next few weeks with the season coming to a close. We had found 140 dead turtles which is lesser than last year,” she said.
