KARWAR : The olive ridley turtle nesting has been rapidly increasing with many turtles coming ashore to nest in the coastal taluks of Uttara Kannada district, especially at Ravindranath Tagore Beach in Karwar.
Despite the threat of disappearing reefs and marine resources due to global warming and depleting marine resources, the nesting is on the rise.
Many adult turtles are coming to the shores of the west coast, particularly in Karnataka at Udupi, Mangaluru, Kundapur and coasts of Uttara Kannada, which include Bhatkal, Honnavar, Kumta, Ankola and Karwar. For the first time, about 15 nests have been rescued and protected on Ravindranath Tagore beach.
“This is for the first time that so many nests have been found on the Ravindranath Tagore beach. Last year, we found six nests,” Shanawaz Rafiq, Senior Research Fellow, Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Cell, Karwar, Forest Department told TNIE.
As many as 112 nests were found in Karwar taluk in 2024, with six of them on the Ravindranath Tagore beach and 41 in Devbagh. “Turtle conservation started 4-5 years ago here in Karwar.
It started with 14 nests, which increased to 28, further increased to 48 in the third year and last year it went up to 128 and now roughly it is 100. It is bound to increase in March and might even cross 200,” Ravishankar, DCF, Karwar said.