The nesting season of Olive Ridleys has begun on the shores of Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts, which is one of their prominent nesting sites on the eastern coast.
The 187-km coast of Nagapattinam Forest Division, which includes Sirkazhi, Nagapattinam, and Vedaranyam Forest Ranges, remains one of the important nesting sites of Olive Ridley turtles in Tamil Nadu.
District Forest Officer Abhishek Tomar told The Hindu that the nesting season of Olive Ridley turtles usually begins on the shore areas of Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts in the first week of December. However, this year, the nesting season started with the delayed arrival of turtles by a week.
The Anti-Poaching Watchers deployed by the Forest Department to collect eggs had spotted the first turtle nest on December 15. Since then, several Olive Ridleys have started arriving on the shore to lay eggs. Wet soil along the coast following widespread rains in early December and rough weather conditions that prevailed in the sea could be the factors for the late arrival of turtles, said Mr. Tomar.
The Forest Department has made special arrangements for collecting Olive Ridley eggs and created additional hatcheries at Kottaimedu, Koozhaiyaru, Keezhamoovarkarai, Manickapangu, and Vanagiri in Sirkazhi range, Samanthampettai, Kameswaram and Vizhundhamavadi in Nagapattinam range and Arcottuthurai and Kodiyakarai in Vedaranyam range.
So far, the front-line staff of the Forest Department have collected close to 1,400 eggs in the Sirkazhi range and around 600 eggs in the Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam ranges. Mr. Tomar said the Forest Department has scaled up the strength of Anti-Poaching Watchers and provided them with torches, buckets, and bicycles to collect eggs.
Usually, the turtles approach the shore areas during late hours to lay eggs and return to the sea early in the morning. The front-line staff, imparted with special training, would swiftly collect the eggs before they suffer any damage from predators. The Forest Department would preserve the collected eggs in its hatcheries. The incubation period of Olive Ridley eggs varies between 45 and 60 days.
The Forest Department has planned to conduct awareness programmes for fishermen about steps to conserve Olive Ridley turtles. Fishermen have been asked to release the turtles back into the sea if they are accidentally caught in their fishing nets.
Olive Ridley turtles are protected under Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, Appendix - I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora, and categorised as Vulnerable under the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Recently, the State government, as a part of its flagship Coastal Restoration Mission, has announced the setting up of sea turtle conservation centres at Chennai and Nagapattinam. The nesting season of Olive Ridley turtles usually ends in March.
