There is a biting nip in the air at the Neelankarai beach. This is par for the course at this time of year, particularly in the wee hours of the day. With ears tucked into cloth headgears, some of those who had turned out for an midnight-to-dawn exercise are prepared for the cold wind. Others have chosen to be prepared by not preparing for it — they seem to be comfortable taking in the full blast of the fast-moving, chilly air. It is one a.m., the moon has crossed into Saturday, from Friday. This group, already one-hour-old at the beach, has another three hours to spend out there, closer to the waves. One wonders if at the end of it, the uncapped would regret leaving their headgears behind.
The group would be going on a turtle walk (conduced every Friday and Saturday) on the beach that marks the southern side of the Adyar river, from Neelankarai to Besant Nagar.
Between 1:30 a.m. to 4.30 a.m. is usually when nesting happens, remarks Arun V, coordinator, Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN).
Together with the Forest Department, SSTCN is engaged in Olive Ridley conservation by protecting their nests, from Neelankarai to Kannagi Statue. Nests are carried to safety, and placed in hatcheries. The process of nest collection can be done only at the witching hour, the female Olive Ridleys feeling emoldened by the relative quiet to head to the sands and lay their eggs.
Awareness exercise is an integral component of the work being carried out by the volunteers in association with the Forest Department.
For the volunteers, it is another walk in the beach looking for Olive Ridley nests. For the participants, it is a whole new experience, one they cannot fly blind into.
So, Arun V and Akila Balu, another SSTCN coordinator, lead a briefing for them.
The seasons
“Up to mid-February (from the start of the Olive Ridley nesting season), more nests would be found on the section described as south of Adyar river. From mid-February onwards, the numbers would be higher, north of Adyar river,” notes Arun.
SSTCN volunteers carry a probe with them to identify nests. Sometimes, the probe alone will not help, and some quick spatial calculation would be necessary.
Arun explains uptracks and downtracks can be identified by the pattern of the flipper marks on the sands. They lead to a clearing where the nest is likely to be found. Poking the probe into the clearing the nest is located.
Akila adds, “Sometimes the clearing may not be clear, and in that situation, one can identify the clearing by watching the uptracks and downtracks.”
With that, it is time to trudge down the coastline.
To go on a turtle walk (alongside volunteers), which happens south of the Adyar river, from Neelangarai to Besant Nagar, one may register at sstcnchennai@gmail.com
Lights and shadows
For the young Olive Ridley, making it in the seas is tough — the survival rate is a pathetic one-in-a-thousand. Somewhere along the way, the Olive Ridley seems to imbibe this hard life lesson, and acts accordingly when it has to head into land. As she waddles into the beach sands to lay her eggs, the female Olive Ridley is extremely sensitive to the disturbances around her.
Arun V, coordinator of Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) notes moving lights can get her to turn around and head back into the sea, deciding not to lay her eggs. She would come another day, and surveying the scene, take a call once again
It is widely believed Olive Ridleys are drawn to lights. Arun explains that it is a half-truth, one that requires a qualification — not all Olive Ridleys feel compelled to follow the lights, the baby turtles do.
“Some Olive Ridleys carry this behaviour into adulthood.”
It makes absolute sense to turn off the lights along the coast where Olive Ridley nesting happens.
