CHENNAI: After the mass death of Olive Ridley turtles last month, Chennai beaches have witnessed a wave of change with brisk nesting in the last few weeks, and the icing on the cake was regular sightings of dolphins very close to the shore.
According to the official data obtained by TNIE, a total of 194 nests were recorded, 20,994 eggs collected and 706 hatchlings released in the Chennai region during this nesting season as on February 19. The number of turtles washed ashore dead in Chennai stood at 1,130. Of the eight hatcheries in Chennai, Besant Nagar has witnessed the highest nesting so far.
The stretch between Marina and Neelankarai, monitored by the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) in coordination with the forest department, has recorded 80% of the total nesting in Chennai.
Shravan Krishnan, an SSTCN volunteer and member of Tamil Nadu State Board for Wildlife, said, “We are seeing a daily average of 10-15 nests. On Tuesday night, our volunteers secured 19 nests, the highest so far this season. Marina Beach, in particular, is witnessing heightened activity. This year, we have seen more nesting than the previous few years.”
Overall, in Tamil Nadu, a total of 1,231 nests are secured in 52 hatcheries. Cuddalore and Nagapattinam have topped the chart with 436 and 396 nests, respectively, so far.
Meanwhile, a meeting, chaired by additional chief secretary (Climate Change & Forests) Supriya Sahu, was convened on Thursday, in which head of forest force Srinivas R Reddy, district forest officers and conservator of forest from all eight coastal districts took part.
Turtle expert from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) R Suresh Kumar was also invited to strategise long-term conservation plans for turtles. The state, based on Kumar’s suggestion, has planned to conduct a telemetry study in collaboration with Advance Institute of Wildlife Conservation (AIWC), state forest department and the WII, by satellite tagging of select turtles.
Kumar suggested more in-situ conservation than shifting the nests to the hatcheries. “It is better to protect the eggs in the natural nest to ensure ideal sex ratio and egg fertility. Mother turtles choose and build nests very carefully. Protecting key nesting sites and keeping beaches garbage-free and other disturbances will be key,” he suggested to the officials.
Supriya Sahu told TNIE, “In the next four to five months, a proposal for the long-term conservation of sea turtles will be prepared with inputs from experts. This year has thrown up a lot of challenges and an opportunity to reassess and introspect on several measures.
We are starting consultations with fishermen on Turtle Excluder Devices. The work on identifying congregation sites will commence soon and at sites like Pichavaram in Cuddalore, which are relatively undisturbed and record highest nesting, on-site conservation will be promoted.”