Ridleys, believe it or not

The Maravanthe, Gunavanthe and Kirimanjeshwara villages, 120 km from Mangalore, are expecting the Olive Ridley sea turtles from the deeps of the Arabian sea. They come here to nest from August through October. The rain-washed beach is thoroughly combed by villagers for any human material like broken beer bottles, plastic and polythene bags, PET bottles and other materials that obstruct the movement of the turtles.

According to Manjunath Shetty, assistant conservator of forests, Kundapur forest division: “We get nearly 2,000 turtles every year. They generally arrive at night and leave by daybreak after laying eggs; the eggs hatch after a minimum of 10 to 12 days The Olive Ridley is listed as an endangered species by the IUCN.

Degradation of nesting beaches, ongoing directed harvest, and by-catch in fisheries have all contributed to the decline of the species. Over the past five years in Kundapur the nesting periods have become considerably shorter and the numbers arriving on the Karnataka coast [only at Maravanthe] have declined.”

The decline in the turtle population has prompted many conservation efforts, but none on the west coast that runs from Gujarat to Kanyakumari. On the east coast there are four locations; Nagapattinam and three locations in Orissa including Gopalpur and Gahirmatha. Conservationists say a lot more regulation is required to prevent rampant poaching.

Shetty said there has been a 50 per cent  reduction in population size since the 1960s. “We are expecting them to be here anytime starting August 5. We have to gather volunteers to chase away stray dogs in the day, foxes at night and human predators also have to be warded off,” said Dasi Kharvi, lead volunteer for the Maravanthe Turtle Conservation Initiative (MTCI).

“Last year, despite our best efforts, we found many hatchlings being sold in the market as pets, and nests were ravaged by wild animals and adults were slain by humans for consumption,” says Kharvi.