Chennai: Forest department on Thursday kick-started the night patrolling to monitor the nesting Olive Ridley turtles along Chennai Kancheepuram coast. “We have started collecting turtle eggs as part of the conservation effort,” said the ranger, T. Murgesan, Chennai wildlife rescue headquarters- Velachery. Hatching huts are also erected at fishing hamlets in Chennai and Kancheepuram. The collected eggs will be moved to the hatcheries and the young turtles after some quarantine nursing will be released back into wild, he said.
According to forest department sources, the marine turtles are facing a severe decline in their population. Recently the Madras high court order also passed orders instructing to take up protective measures for nesting turtles along Chennai coast. A few years back there was no concrete data available on the nesting turtles, but in the recent years, documentations on turtles visiting and washing ashore is done by private NGOs and the state forest department. By next month, the department will organise awareness rallies and turtle walks to promote the conservation of marine life among Chennaiites,
According to conservationist T. Brinda of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation only about 30 per cent of the hatchlings make it into the ocean in normal conditions and the rest become prey for other predators. Over fishing and trawling activities in the Indian Ocean has become a serious issue affecting the marine resources and certainly there is a need for more protection and conservation methodologies. Welcoming the recent state government order banning fisheries in 90 fishing hamlets of Tamil Nadu serving as a breeding ground for Olive Ridley turtles, the conservationist said that order prohibited the fishing by mechanized fishing vessels, motorised country crafts and those using mechanized fishing techniques in a radius of 5 nautical miles around the potential nesting and breeding sites of sea turtles should be implemented in letter and spirit.
