Longline fishery is exerting an impact on the sea turtle populations of the seas around India, as in the case of many longline fisheries operating in other parts of the world. During the tuna longline survey conducted by four research vessels of Fishery Survey of India, 87
Just seven species make up the known diversity of the world's sea turtles today, but these evolutionary marvels are encountering a growing number of threats. The marine reptiles, all of them endangered, have persisted for millions of years, moving from the sea to land for nesting, and traversing the great tropical and sub-tropical ocean basins as part of their life cycles.
Over a hundred children from three villages along the beach adjoining river Rushikulya in Ganjam district, which is the world's second largest mass nesting site for the Olive Ridley turtles, on the verge of extinction, have assumed the task of protecting the hatchlings purely for the joy of it.
Thousands of eggs of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles on the beach adjoining river Rushikulya in Ganjam district have failed to hatch this year because of the recent oil spill at a nearby port, conservationists claim.
BERHAMPUR: It was an ecstatic moment for the Olive Ridley conservationists as around 70,000 newborn Olive Ridley turtles crawled into the sea in the early hours of today a t t h e R u s h i k u l y a rookery.
RUSHIKULYA ROOKERY (ORISSA): Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtle eggs has begun at this major nesting site under the shroud of environmental degradation caused by oil spill from a ship recently.
The mass hatching, which started on Saturday night, is expected to continue for next two to three days.
Coastal areas of Orissa State in the northeastern part of the Indian peninsula are potentially vulnerable to accelerated erosion hazard. Along the 480-km coastline, most of the coastal areas, including tourist resorts, hotels, fishing villages, and towns, are already threatened by recurring storm flood events and severe coastal erosion.
Increasing poaching of turtles along Konkan belt has prompted NGOs to initiate conservation activities along 30 villages of Maharashtra.
Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra (SNM), a Maharashtra-based NGO, has begun awareness campaign of Olive Ridley turtles through hatchery management programmes across these villages yielding magical results.
