Olive Ridleys return to T’puram’s sandy beaches

Thiruvananthapuram: In the early hours of Monday, Veli beach witnessed a rare sight: Dozens of Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings rushing to the sea. These hatchlings were caught in the nets of local fishermen who released them into the sea upon returning to shore.The beaches of Veli and Thumba seem to have re-emerged as nesting sites for the vulnerable Olive Ridley turtles after decades. Fishermen observed one or two turtles coming ashore to lay eggs in early Feb and have identified two nests so far.A Biju Kumar, professor of the department of aquatic biology at University of Kerala, said: "Veli and Thumba beaches are sandy and do not have erosion issues. The turtles seem to prefer these stretches because of that."Female turtles typically arrive at beaches in the dead of night to lay eggs, returning to the sea afterwards. A female turtle lays around 100 to 150 eggs. The hatchlings emerge from the eggs after 45-50 days, according to conservationists.Jisha John, councillor of the Poundukadavu ward, said: "After one nest was spotted, we alerted the forest department, fearing that the eggs may get damaged or destroyed if they are left here. The forest officials removed the eggs safely."Thiruvananthapuram was historically a nesting spot for Olive Ridleys, with the last major sighting reported in the 1990s, said Biju Kumar.In April last year, the ‘arattu' procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple was rerouted to safeguard Olive Ridley eggs along the shores of Shanghumukham beach. Then, local fishermen and conservationists said that it was after a gap of 30 years that Olive Ridleys had laid eggs at Shanghumugham.The presence of hatchlings in Veli underscores the importance of conserving our beaches, said conservationists, calling for community involvement in protecting emerging turtle nesting sites in the state.India's eastern coast has several significant nesting sites for Olive Ridleys. In Odisha, beaches such as Gahirmatha and the mouths of the Rushikulya and Devi rivers witness large-scale mass nesting events known as "arribadas", where hundreds of thousands of turtles nest between Feb and March. However, Kerala's coast, dotted with groynes, fencing and seawalls, offers very little scope in terms of nesting sites for Olive Ridley and leatherback turtles, they added.