OLIVE RIDLEY-A CALL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND ECOLOGICAL CHALLENGE

Abstract

Once the paradise of hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles for mass nesting or arribada, Gahirimatha, the Marine Sanctuary in the eastern coastal Odisha, India - has now turned into their graveyard. Decades of migratory habits of these turtles have received a genetic shock- so strong and so large in magnitude that they failed to appear in expected numbers this season in their largest rookery of the world. These turtles that migrate thousands of miles to nest during winter season are injured by illegal mechanised boat propellers and are slaughtered in the fishing nets. Illegal trawling and gill netting has caused high devastation to their populations. While traditional fishing methods pose little problem to the turtles, large mechanised fishing vessels dragging trawl nets behind them trap and drown tens of thousands of turtles as they congregate offshore to rejoice the new found life- to feed and to mate. Large scale development projects such as the construction of a mega port called Dhamma, and offshore drilling for natural gas situated in the turtles congregation areas and migration paths are creating increasing pressure for the sea turtles of Orissa. Other than this Oil spill from ships, encroachment of seashore, natural calamities such as storms, hurricanes and abnormal environmental conditions such as temperature-rise, ghost nets, animal predators, invaders, poachers, sea-wastes like plastic, industrial waste, human debris and artificial lighting pose potential threat to their existence. A staggering total of 130,000 dead turtles have been washed ashore in the past decade in Odisha, almost all of them breeding adults. Belinda Wright, Executive Director, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and a noted wildlife conservationist, was right, as she observed this as a tragedy of irreversible implication. She said that no species can survive such high mortality of its breeding population. This paper seeks to interpret the causal factors that stand responsible for the increasing number of death of these sea turtles. It puts light upon the correlation between the conservation of the Olive Ridley Turtles and management of ecological balance of the world. It also aims to chart the noble attempts of local N.G.O.s to find out a way to conserve this harmless, wonderful marine creature.