A recent long-term study titled “Monitoring Sea Turtles in India 2008–2024” has revealed that rising temperatures at the Rushikulya River mouth in Odisha’s Ganjam district are causing a disproportionate number of female Olive Ridley hatchlings, potentially threatening the species’ long-term survival.
Key findings and context:
- Olive Ridley turtles (named for their olive-green, heart-shaped shells) are among the smallest sea turtles and inhabit warm waters of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans.
- Their unique mass nesting behavior, called arribada (Spanish for “arrival”), sees hundreds of thousands of females nesting synchronously over just a few days.
- Large arribadas occur only on the east coast of India and in Central America.
- Odisha hosts two major nesting sites: Gahirmatha and Rushikulya, the latter being the focus of the study.
- The East Coast Olive Ridleys are genetically distinct and possibly the ancestral lineage for global populations.
Impact of Climate Change:
- Sex in sea turtles is temperature-dependent—warmer sands lead to more females, cooler sands to males.
- A growing female bias, as recorded in the Rushikulya rookery, could lead to population instability if male numbers drop too low.
