BENGALURU: If you are ever visiting the shores of the Tonka beach in Honnavar, a small town in Karnataka during this time, then you might blink and miss a ‘miracle of nature’, that of hundreds of Olive Ridley sea turtles hatching and making their way to the sea. Sandeep Hegde, founder of the Honnavar Foundation decided to document this miracle with the help of the Bengaluru-based documentary filmmaker Vikas Badiger, founder of the Faces of Bengaluru (FoB) Documentaries.
“This region is known to be like biodiversity hotspots, there are the Western Ghats, Arabian Sea and Sharavati river so conservation has been the key focus for us. Even though I am born and brought up in Honnavar, I did not know about these sea turtles until the last few years,” says 35-year-old Hegde.
The trailer of the documentary titled The Ocean Connection was released on Instagram by popular Kannada filmmaker, Raj B Shetty.
Recounting a chance encounter at the Tonka beach two years ago, Hegde says, “We had gone to Echo beach which is one of the most famous beaches here, but it was really crowded so we decided to explore the Tonka beach a few kilometres away. When I got there, I got to know about these turtles coming over there and then I got to know that the beach is in danger of getting destroyed and turtles will lose their habitat as a result.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the Olive Ridley turtles as vulnerable. The turtles’ habitat is under threat from a proposal to build a four-lane road on Kasarakod beach in Honnavar to connect the local port.
The local fishermen community and environmentalists have opposed this and moved the National Green Tribunal saying that the road will permanently damage the nesting areas.
“What we are trying to do with the documentary is create awareness and create a people’s opinion which can create enough pressure for the officials and the government to take some action,” shares Hegde.
While he envisioned the idea of the documentary, Badiger created a script and the storyline for the same.
“I met Sandeep through a mutual friend because he was looking for someone to document what was happening. I told him that this is something huge that is happening, wherein a fishing community realising and learning by themselves the importance of conserving these turtles is taking action to conserve this rich habitat. Of course, they had help from a marine biologist there but still just their fortitude to do it is pretty significant and that’s something that I personally loved,” he adds.
Speaking of some of the major challenges, Badiger says, “The shoot was genuinely hectic because capturing the turtles in their habitat was extremely uncertain. So whether it’s 5am or 6am, we had to make sure we were ready to capture them.”
He further adds, “I’ve been a photographer and cinematographer for at least eight years now but this has been one of the most incredible experiences in my career so far.”
Hegde says that they got lucky with shooting the turtles, “Turtles are very seasonal as they come only between December to February to lay the eggs. The crew came all the way from Bengaluru to shoot. The first few days there wasn’t much movement but finally we got good shots so that I think it is nature’s way to also help us out in documenting this. All the pieces are coming together and people are paying attention.”
(The documentary will premiere on Feb 4 at the Suchitra Theatre, Banashankari. Tickets, priced Rs 150, on BookMyShow)