4 months after it turned the primary Olive Ridley sea turtle to be satellite-tagged on the coast of Maharashtra, Prathama has returned to close its nesting seaside — Velas within the Ratnagiri district —to the shock of researchers. Prathama, which had left state waters someday in late March, was noticed 80 km offshore close to Velas seaside.
5 Turtles — Prathama, Savani (on January 25), Vanashree, Rewa and Laxmi (on February 13 and 16) — had been tagged with platform transmitter terminals (PTTs), which had been fitted with epoxy resin on the carapace (laborious shell) of the turtle in Ratnagiri district. Every transmitter weighs lower than three per cent of the grownup turtle’s physique weight, which ranges between 40 and 45 kg. However on March 2, the researchers had misplaced contact with one of many turtles christened Laxmi.
Dr R Suresh Kumar, senior scientist from the Division of Endangered Species Administration, WII, Dehradun, mentioned had not anticipated the trajectory taken by Prathama. “My preliminary speculation was that these solitary nesting turtles will transfer into the deep sea to return from time to time. Nevertheless, all of the tagged turtles have remained throughout the continental shelf.”
The continental shelf has comparatively shallow water, which then offers method to the slope after which the deepsea ocean.
The preliminary speculation by the researchers monitoring the turtles was that the turtles had been prone to stay within the nearshore or shallow water, ready for the ocean currents to start their journeys into the deep sea additional all the way down to Lakshadweep or drift in direction of Oman or Somali shoreline and return later this yr in October-November to nearshore waters.
It was suspected that when the currents begin to set in close to the shore in March, the turtles will transfer into the deep sea. Nevertheless, besides Rewa, which is on the sting of the continental shelf, all are throughout the continental shelf. Kumar mentioned he believes that Rewa is presently foraging. “I’m assuming that the nutrient-rich meals is introduced up alongside the slope (continental shelf). I believe that every one these turtles will transfer to the place the place Rewa is, the place the meals is out there in good quantity. Turtles are someway capable of predict ocean water circulation they usually time themselves to be there the place the meals goes to come back up.”
Kumar added, “The satellite tv for pc tagging helps us additional perceive their behaviour.”
Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, and the Mangrove Basis, an autonomous physique underneath the Maharashtra authorities, are monitoring the turtles’ motion to grasp the migratory sample of the solitary nesting turtles.
Olive Ridley turtles are thought-about probably the most ample sea turtles on this planet with sporadic nesting in Maharashtra, Goa and the offshore Andaman Islands.
In Maharashtra, sporadic nesting is recorded throughout three districts within the southernmost area of the state — Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. In these three, the very best variety of nests and hatchlings is recorded on the three seashores of Guhagar, Velas and Anjarle within the Ratnagiri district.