Leatherback turtle spotted off Diveagar after 30 years

In a sighting that has brought cheers among marine enthusiasts, a leatherback sea turtle, which is the largest sea turtle and critically endangered, was photo-documented close to Diveagar. As per experts, this is the first photo record of a leatherback from Maharashtra coast almost after 30 years.

The 4-foot-long turtle ended up being accidentally trapped in the fishing net off Bharadkhol near Diveagar. However, as soon as fishermen Vishnudas Waghe and Sadanand Choghale saw the trapped marine reptile, they not only released it back in the sea safely by cutting their nets but also video-documented the entire process.

This delightful sighting came to light, thanks to a series of workshops initiated by Mangrove Foundation held in Diveagar two weeks back to raise awareness of endangered marine species and encourage fishermen to report sightings.

Harshal Karve, Marine Biologist with Mangrove Foundation, who is leading the awareness and outreach programs for fishermen and locals along the coastal district of Maharashtra said that he was extremely happy that such an important record was documented just as they began these workshops.

"We had addressed a gathering of fishermen at Diveagar and showed them images of endangered marine species and requested them to release these in case they got stuck in their nets. We even requested them to shoot videos or take photographs of whichever marine species they found and share these with us," informed Karve adding that he first could not believe his eyes when Waghe sent him a video with a leatherback being released by him.

The marine biologist said that very little information was available on this species and sighting is very rare along the coast of Maharashtra.

"A leatherback turtle was accidentally caught off Devbag near Malvan in 1985 which was around 4.5 feet. One nest each was recorded in Sindhudurg and Raigad around 1985 but no authentic record of nesting is available. An old fisherman from Kashid in Raigad district also claims to have seen the nesting of this species around 1988," Karve found after digging into old records.

N Vasudevan, APCCF, Mangrove Cell appreciated the fisherman for quickly releasing the leatherback from the nets and said that the Mangrove Cell will even compensate these fishermen for cutting their nets as per their policy.

"Such awareness programs were helping the Mangrove cell gather important and concealed data from local communities which is a very important tool in the conservation of these charismatic species. We are planning a long-term study to know more about their occurrence, frequency, and natural history records," he said.