The nesting grounds are being squeezed alarmingly and the coastal vegetation that plays a vital role in providing food to lakhs of mother turtles and their hatchlings is vanishing rapidly because of coastal erosion and aggressive persuasion of development projects like port infrastructure by Odisha government across the coastline. In regard to the nesting activities this season (2012), things look quite uncertain as the beaches near Gahirmatha river mouth, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth, that have been the regular nesting grounds for the turtles, have lost most of their space in the Bay of Bengal because of erosion."
The mating season of Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) marine turtles has already begun in the Bay of Bengal close to the coastline of Odisha, India. As per experts and volunteers working in areas of safety and conservation of the sea turtles, things go well with the mating this year. But what they apprehend is that higher degree of erosion at many points of the coastline poses serious threat to the marine specie and raises doubts about the continuity of the tradition of mass nesting by the Olive Ridley marine turtles called ‘Arribada'. The doubts seem to be logical because the nesting grounds are being squeezed alarmingly and the coastal vegetation that plays a vital role in providing food to lakhs of mother turtles and their hatchlings is vanishing rapidly because of coastal erosion and aggressive persuasion of development projects like port infrastructure by the government across the coastline. In regard to the nesting activities this season (2012), things look quite uncertain as the beaches near Gahirmatha river mouth, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth, that have been the regular nesting grounds for the turtles, have lost most of their space in the Bay of Bengal because of erosion.
Inhabiting tropical and subtropical bays of Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean, this marine specie visits some specific beaches of Odisha for mass nesting activity because of the conditions that are conducive for mating, nesting and hatching.
“Odisha's beaches are special to these sea turtles for many reasons like, the size of the sand grains that offering the turtle with and opportunity and all convenience to dig a whole in the sand and lay eggs; the unique coastal vegetation that offers ample amount of food to thousands of mother turtles and millions of their hatchlings; the climatic condition with a proper balance of temperature and moisture for the hatchlings to emerge from the eggs", says noted wildlife scientist Dr. Chandra Sekhar Kar of Odisha Wildlife department.
Now, mating activities have been spotted in the sea near all three major rookeries, known so far, like Rushikulya River Mouth, Devi River Mouth and Gahirmatha River mouth. But it's difficult to conclude at this point that the annual activity of mass nesting would go well this year. The trend of sea erosion in many points of the coastline, and mostly at places that are close to the rookeries, has not only raised concern about the nesting activity this time but also the continuity of the tradition of mass nesting on the beaches of Odisha.
The rookery that first drew the attention of turtle researchers and wildlife lovers as the biggest host of annual ‘Arribada' is Gahirmatha River Mouth in the northern coast of Odisha that is now the middle point between two major ports at Dhamra and Paradip. Lakhs of marine turtles travel miles in the sea to reach this place for nesting. “Erosion of the beach adjacent to the river mouth at an alarming scale has forced the visiting turtles to nest at Nasi now, a few KM away from the traditional nesting site at Gahirmatha", says Jivan das, Secretary of People for Animal's Odisha Chapter adding that, “beaches where turtles in thousands do the annual mass nesting are getting squeezed day by day. If this trend continues, the turtles may have no other option but to abandon the beaches of Odisha and look for other destinations".
While the rise in sea level resulted by the phenomenon of global warming and climate change thereof is believed to be the primary reason of the erosion at Gahirmatha, “back current of the break waters of Paradip Port is (believed to be) the other reason of it. Environmentalists and Geologists are also holding Paradip Port as the cause of rapid coastal erosion of the adjacent beaches. Unfortunately, to accelerate the process of erosion and push the nesting beach to further risk of being rejected by the marine turtles another major port has started operating along Dhamra River Mouth at a distance of just 15 KM northward", says Jivan Das. Read the full report here.
Source: Basudev Mahapatra, HotnHit News.Â
