Hurdles for turtles

One of nature’s unique phenomenon, the journey of the Olive Ridley turtles covering hundred nautical miles to nest in the Indian eastern coast continues to face a series of hurdles. According to a recent study done by a team of Dolphin Nature Conservation Society from November 2014 to March 2015, the number of nests spotted this season along the Visakhapatnam coast, which is one of the critical sporadic nesting zones, is down to 148 from the 183 nests recorded last year. The study, conducted on a 24-km stretch from Visakhapatnam Coastal Battery to Bheemili coast, has highlighted the increasing mortality rate and disturbed nesting behaviour of the Olive Ridley turtles. However, due to severe beach erosion many nests were washed away during the high tides,” Prof. M. Rama Murty, founder and president of DNCS told The Hindu. ON THE WANE #A team of DNCS conducts a survey from November 2014 to March 2015 #The number of nests spotted this season along the Visakhapatnam coast has come down to 148 from 183 last year #The number of dead turtles found this year is 89 #Mortality rate is high at Chepaluppada and Mangamaripet Owing to severe beach erosion many nests were washed away - M. Rama Murty, Founder of DNCS