Every year the Indian Coast Guard launches Operation Olivia” to help protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.
- From November 2020 to May 2021, the Coast Guard devoted 225 ship days and 388 aircraft hours to protect 3.49 lakh turtles that laid eggs along the Odisha coast.
About Olive Ridley
- The Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is listed as vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red list.
- All five species of sea turtles found in India are included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and in the Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- Studies have found three main factors that damage Olive Ridley turtles and their eggs — heavy predation of eggs by dogs and wild animals, indiscriminate fishing with trawlers and gill nets, and beach soil erosion.
- The Olive Ridley has one of the most extraordinary nesting habits in the natural world, including mass nesting called arribadas.
- The 480-km-long Odisha coast has three arribada beaches at Gahirmatha, the mouth of the Devi river, and in Rushikulya, where about 1 lakh nests are found annually.
- More recently, a new mass nesting site has been discovered on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with more than 5,000 nests reported in a season.
(Source: The Hindu)
