Grim future faces Indian turtles
Sanjaya Jena
Thousands of endangered sea turtles have arrived back on India's
eastern coast to lay their eggs, but conservationists say their future
looks grim.
The good news is that every year, 200,000-300,000 Olive Ridley
turtles nest on the beaches of Orissa state - one of the world's largest
nesting ground for this endangered species.
Olive Ridley is one of the five turtle species that visit India
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The bad news is that an estimated 129,000 turtles have died over the
past 13 years. They usually suffocate in the nets of fishing boats not
using mandatory turtle-excluder devices.
The mouth of the Rushikulya river is one of three key nesting areas
in Orissa, along with the mouth of the Devi river and the Nasi islands
in Gahirmatha.
Under threat
An Olive Ridley turtle, on an average, lays 120-150 eggs from which
hatchlings emerge after about 45-50 days.
However, these eggs are at risk from predators such as dogs, jackals,
wild boar, hyenas, crows, eagles and gulls. Eggs are also washed away
due to the erosion of the beach. Studies show that only a dangerously
small percentage of the eggs hatch.
"No species can survive such a high mortality rate. It is more
difficult for an already endangered species," says Biswajit Mohanty,
coordinator of Operation Kachhapa, a turtle conservation project.
Only one out of every 1,000 eggs laid hatches
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He says lax enforcement of the law by the authorities has contributed
to the "mass slaughter" of the turtles.
Now even their nesting grounds are under threat.
The original nesting beach at Ekakula Nasi was split by a cyclone in
1989 and a new island was created.
This new island - Nasi - was further split again in the mid-1990s
after another strong cyclone, leading to the formation of two highly
fragile islands now called Nasi I and Nasi II.
Experts believe that these two islands where nesting is now taking
place could be further broken up and may disappear some day due to
adverse weather conditions. These low level islands are also washed over
by the high tide leading to considerable loss of turtle eggs every
season.
The Devi river mouth beach is now strapped for nesting space after
the government planted a lot of casuarina trees.
Only the Rushikulya nesting beach appears to be safe for the turtles
at present, say experts.
Also, under law, every fishing boat in Orissa is supposed to use
turtle excluder devices as they save turtles from being trapped in
fishing nets. But many boats freely violate the law.
Only one of the three nesting beaches - Gahirmatha - has been
declared a marine sanctuary with fishing prohibited up to 20km (12.5
miles) into the sea.
Looming threat
Locals resent the way the rare mass nesting is being handled on the
Orissa coast.
Olive Ridley Turtles return to nest on Orissa’s beaches
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Lack of basic infrastructure like speedboats, patrol equipment, night
vision arms, are major hindrances in protecting the endangered specie
here, local resident Saroj Sahu says.
Despite the fact that the state-run Indian Oil Corporation has
coughed up 10 million rupees to the Orissa forest department for turtle
protection, no speedboats and other equipments have been bought.
Federal government money given for buying patrol speedboats has been
lying unspent for the past eight years. To promote the use of turtle
excluder devices, the federal government has made available cheap
devices costing about 3,000 rupees ($66) each. Still most of the fishing
boats don't use these devices.
Other long term threats loom large over the future of the turtles.
For one, a crude oil terminal is proposed at the Rushikulya nesting
beach. The federal government has also permitted drilling in offshore
waters by petroleum companies for oil and gas exploration though a
turtle expert group had warned that there were no studies about turtle
activity in these waters.
One drilling block is in the path of migrating turtles according to
satellite studies carried out in 2001 by the Wildlife Institute of
India.
Also, a giant deep sea port with 180 million tonnes per annum
handling capacity is proposed at Dhamra which is perilously close to the
Nasi island nesting beach.
Experts fear that the movement of giant ships and artificial
illumination would put the turtles in even deeper trouble in the years
ahead. The Olive Ridley is one of the five species of marine turtles
that visit Indian shores for mating and nesting.
It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and catching
or killing a turtle can lead to a minimum of two years and maximum of
seven years of imprisonment.
Since it is a migratory species it is protected under the Cites
international conservation agreement. India being a signatory is bound
by its commitments to protect the species when it arrives here. |