Olive Ridleys skipping TN coast
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The world observed World Turtle Day last month and the breeding season of Olive Ridley turtle along the Chennai coast has come to an end. Though awareness among youngsters and students has been on the rise, the real concern is that the number of turtle nestings along the coastline has dwindled to a great extent over the last three decades, opine marine conservationists and biologists.
“Studies done by renowned conservationist Romulus Whitaker way back in 1978 has revealed that undisturbed stretches of Chennai coastline supported 100 turtle nests per kilometre and now when volunteers of Kadal Aamai Padhukavalar Sangam took up enumeration this year, the groups were able to find only 10 to 12 nestings per kilometre”, said marine conservationist Supraja Dharini, chairperson, Tree Foundation.
There is an urgent need to conserve the Olive Ridley nesting sites along the Chennai- Mamallapuram coast. The nesting patterns were erratic and unpredictable this year. The exact nature of the nesting disturbance is not completely understood. Besides, there had been a few incidents where nests were either poached or predated by foxes, Ms Dharini, who is observing the turtle nesting behaviour for the last few years, said.
“Since 1980s, there has been massive change in marine biodiversity owing to over fishing and unchecked pollutions. The conversion of oceans into dumping yards and rise in sea surface temperature add to the woes,” said Mr T.T. Ajith Kumar, senior research officer, Centre for Advanced Marine Biology, Annamalai University.
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