Oil cos stumble on Olive Ridley ground
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July 07, 2005 09:04 IST
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Oil exploration companies operating in the Mahanadi basin and in the adjoining Krishna Godavari basin may now have to closely watch the path of half-a-million endangered Olive Ridley turtles that come there to nest every year from January to March.
After two years of discussions and studies, the government seems to have made up its mind on giving the go-ahead to exploration work by Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in these areas.
Officials told Business Standard that after resisting a decision, the environment ministry recently asked RIL to proceed with exploration but stop drilling during the nesting season.
These turtles nest annually during January-March on the beaches of Gahirmatha at the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa's Kendrapara district, the mouth of the river Rushikulya (Ganjam district), and the mouth of the Devi (Puri district).
While Orissa beaches are the main nesting sites for these turtles, experts said beaches further north along the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh also host some of these endangered species every year.
Two Reliance exploration blocks, NEC-OSN-97/2 and MN-DWN-98/2, were awaiting environment clearances due to migration of the threatened turtles. One of the blocks is right on the return path of these migratory turtles who travel long distances to nest along the Orissa coast.
Over the past few decades, the Olive Ridley population has dropped due to poaching at nesting sites for the female's skin and meat. It nests at only five beaches in the world with the Orissa coast being the most significant.
At a recent meeting, the petroleum ministry had asked the ministry of environment and forests to let Reliance proceed with the second stage of development activity. A tracking study of the turtles could simultaneously be carried on by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, it felt.
"The study was initially suggested to be funded by the directorate-general of hydrocarbons under the ministry of petroleum but now it will be part-funded by the two companies," said an official. In the event of any adverse impact of the exploration work on the species, it was noted, the companies would be asked to take conservation measures.
In a presentation during the meeting, RIL maintained that the turtles only congregate on the near shore, which is within 10 kms of the coast, and that the presence of offshore rigs beyond 50 kms would not influence the activities of the Olive Ridleys.
The company also cited examples of the US, and countries in West Asia and Southeast Asia, where the area within 3 nautical miles of turtle-feeding and breeding grounds is notified as restricted.
It also said that in petroleum-rich regions like the Gulf of Mexico, turtles are known to co-exist with the offshore platforms, drilling rigs and pipelines with no major consequences.
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Updated: February 12, 2014 01:58 IST
Olive Ridley turtles begin mass nesting
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The HinduTurtles at the Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district. File Photo: Lingaraj Panda
Restrictions imposed on visitor entry along one stretch of beach in Ganjam district of Odisha
Mass nesting of endangered Olive Ridley turtles started at Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district of Odisha from Monday night.
In comparison to past years, this season mass nesting has started almost one week early at this most preferred mass nesting site of Olive Ridleys on Indian coast, said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), S.S.Mishra. On Monday night around 10,000 mother turtles reached the coast near Podampeta to lay their eggs. They reached the sandy beach in the darkness of night, dug out holes with their flippers, laid eggs in the holes in sand and covered them up, before returning back to sea. The eggs will incubate for around 45 days on their own due to heat of the sand. On Sunday night, around 200 Olive Ridleys had laid their eggs at this coast hinting at the start of mass nesting. At present thousands of female Olive Ridleys are waiting in sea to nest at very close distance to the coastline. Sporadic nesting of few mother turtles had started at Rushikulya rookery coast since January while the mating season of these turtles was continuing in sea.
Protection measures
Before the mass nesting season at a coast, a few mother turtles come to nest much earlier to assess the condition of the coast line, say the experts. Forest department has imposed restrictions on entry of visitors and tourists to over three kilometre stretch of beach.
This whole stretch has been divided into 45 segments by the forest department based on records of data regarding nesting. Tourists as well as local visitors are being allowed entry only in two segments so that human crowd does not affect the mass nesting process, said the DFO.
Keywords: Olive Ridley turtles, mass nesting season, Ganjam district,
S & T » ENVIRONMENT
PODAMPETA (ODISHA), April 9, 2014
Updated: April 9, 2014 03:00 IST
Six lakh Olive Ridley hatchlings find their way to the sea
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The HinduOlive Ridely hatchlings near Podampeta in Ganajm district. Photo: Lingaraj Panda
Nesting of Olive Ridley turtles was low this year
Six lakh newborn Olive Ridley turtles have made their way to the sea at Rushikulya Rookery, a major nesting site of these endangered marine turtles, since hatching began three days back.
According to forest officials the mass hatching is almost complete for the year. This year, nesting of Olive Ridley turtles was low in the area in comparison to 2013. Around 61,000 turtles had nested at this coast in March this year, said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) S.S.Mishra.
In 2013 around three lakh turtles had nested at Rushikulya rookery. Forest officials with the support of volunteers from villages near the Rushikulya Rookery had made all efforts to reduce mortality rate of the hatchlings.
Forest officials say mass hatching has almost ended but sporadic hatching of remaining nests would continue for the next few days.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Mishra said the urban body of Ganjam town, authorities of Jayashree Chemicals as well as the inhabitants of villages near the rookery had been requested to switch off lights from April 2 till the end of the mass hatching process.
The Olive Ridley eggs hatch under the sand at night and move towards the sea after coming out of the sand. However, they are extremely sensitive to light and tend to move towards land instead of the sea if there is a bright source of light. So, the forest department had requested all concerned authorities to switch off street lights at night during these few days of mass nesting. Most of them had agreed to do so.
In the area where mass nesting had occurred this year, nets had been fixed towards the land side. The hatchlings that strayed and moved towards the land were caught in the net. They were collected by forest officials and volunteers and released in sea. The mass nesting at this coast started on March 10, which was early in comparison to previous years.
Updated: February 12, 2014 00:22 IST
Highest number of Olive Ridley nests seen in a day
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While 16 nests were sighted along the shores of the Marina, six were sighted on Elliot’s beach in Besant Nagar. Photo: Special Arrangement
Twenty-two Olive Ridley turtle nests were sighted along the Marina and Elliot’s stretches by conservation volunteers on Monday.
Akila Balu, a volunteer with Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), said this was the first time such a large number of nests were seen along the 13-km stretch of the two beaches. While 16 nests were sighted along the shores of the Marina, six were sighted on Elliot’s beach in Besant Nagar.
Since the beginning of the nesting season in November 2013, the volunteers had spotted more dead turtles washing ashore on the beaches, than nests, said Ms. Balu.
“Yesterday’s sighting of 22 nests in a single night gave us great relief. SSTCN has been into conservation of Olive Ridley turtles for the past 26 years. But it was only yesterday such a large number of nests were seen on this stretch,” she said.
More than 100 Olive Ridley turtles were found dead on the Marina from January, this year, to the first week of February. Fewer turtles had come ashore for nesting during this period, she said.
T. Ashish, another volunteer of SSTCN, said the sighting of maximum nests on Monday night was a boost to the volunteers. They covered the coastline between Neelankarai and Marina by dividing themselves into two groups.
While one group walked from Neelankarai to the broken bridge behind Theosophical Society’s premises, the second group walked from Srinivasapuram in Foreshore Estate to Anna Square, he said.
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