Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun and the Mangrove Basis, an autonomous physique below the state authorities, tagged two feminine grownup Olive Ridley turtles with a satellite tv for pc machine to watch their path on January 25.

The opposite sea turtle ‘Saavani’, who was tagged and launched from Anjarle seaside, additionally in Ratnagiri district, continued to stay within the nearshore waters of the seaside.

The 2 turtles had been tagged with platform transmitter terminals (PTTs), which had been fitted with epoxy resin on the carapace (arduous shell) of the turtle. The transmitter weighs lower than 3 per cent of the physique weight of the grownup turtle, which ranges between 40-45 kgs.

A complete of 5 sea turtles will probably be tagged as part of the examine and the researchers will try the second leg of tagging this week.

Researchers monitoring the ocean turtles motion mentioned each turtles have remained within the nearshore/shallow waters within the final 17 days (until February 11). Prathama’s tracker confirmed that after being launched from Velas it got here nearly close to shore at Guhagar seaside.

Dr R Suresh Kumar, senior scientist from the Division of Endangered Species Administration, WII, Dehradun explaining the aim behind the train mentioned, “Olive Ridley inhabitants might be divided into two— mass and solitary nesting inhabitants. We are trying to grasp the migratory sample of the solitary nesting turtles which might be discovered alongside the Maharashtra coast throughout this time of the season. The place do these turtles migrate, what are the nearshore or offshore areas these turtles use? These are among the queries.”

Kumar who has additionally studied turtles alongside the east coast hypothesised that the turtles are 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 the direction of Oman, Somali shoreline and return later this yr in October-November to nearshore waters.

He believes that these currents will begin to set in close to the shore in March.

In 2001, the state forest division, together with the WII had fitted 4 turtles with PTTs, at Devi seaside in Puri district. Its migration path revealed that one of many turtles had circled the waters and just one was seen migrating south in the direction of Sri Lanka.

It’s at present suspected that the ocean turtles navigate to the Center East and Pakistan after laying eggs in Maharashtra.

“That is the primary time Olive Ridley Sea Turtles alongside the Maharashtra Coast are tagged and are being studied. Little or no is understood about sea turtles that nest alongside the state’s shoreline. We don’t know if they arrive to shore a number of instances to put eggs or return to the identical place yearly. This examine goals to bridge that information hole,”mentioned Virendra Tiwari, extra principal conservator of forests, mangrove cell.

“The preliminary statement has proven that the turtles haven’t drifted removed from their nesting websites. The information may even assist us in our conservation efforts. An earlier examine of the Olive Ridley that nested on Odisha seashores confirmed that these turtles went as much as Sri Lanka and returned to Odisha Coast for nesting,” he added.

Versus the Olive Ridley’s discovered alongside the east coast and particularly those that go to seashores in Odisha for nesting, the Olive Ridleys nesting alongside the Maharashtra coast are sporadic and a solitary nesting inhabitants.

The mass nest inhabitants stays in nearshore waters alongside the Odisha coast for a minimum of 3-4 months.

Kumar added, “Within the case of solitary nesting turtles, it’s the choice of the person turtle to nest, the time, the seaside. There isn’t a social signalling between the solitary turtles, not like the mass nesters. Because of this, the solitary nesting turtles will behave very otherwise. How they use nearshore waters will probably be completely different. They might not be residents in these waters, that’s what I hypothesise. We don’t know as of now if they’re resident or migratory.”

Olive Ridley turtles dig deep nests in sandy shores with their flippers to put eggs and canopy them up with sand.

Whereas mass nesting is seen on seashores of Odisha, the place lakhs of feminine turtles flip to the seaside. In Maharashtra, nesting is recorded throughout three districts within the southernmost area of the state— Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg and is sporadic.

Olive ridleys are globally distributed within the tropical areas of the South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They’re listed as susceptible within the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Purple record and are additionally protected below the Wildlife Safety Act of 1972.