CHENNAI: The Olive Ridley turtle nesting season this year has been somewhat of a damp squib so far. Compared to previous years, fewer turtles have come to nest and activists say this could mean a prolonged season where the numbers could eventually catch up.Volunteers and voluntary organisations, that form the major bulk of sea turtle conservation workers in and around Chennai say cyclone Thane, that wreaked havoc on the northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh, could have disturbed sea currents, which, in turn, could have had an impact on sea turtle breeding patterns this year.“We have been talking to fishermen to see if there has been any significant change in sea current. There has been a distinct drop in the number of turtle nests this year,” says Supraja Dharini, chairperson of the TREE Foundation.She says nesting has been slow along the coast all the way north up to the Godavari belt. This has puzzled activists, who are left with few answers in the absence of solid research on sea turtle feeding, breeding and nesting patterns.But there has been a silver lining to the slump. “There have also been fewer turtle carcasses washing up on the shore. It really hurts to walk along the shore looking for turtle nests and finding a dead turtle instead. Only one out of 1,000 Olive Ridley hatchlings live to adulthood and every dead adult turtle is a significant loss,” says Akila, coordinator of the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network.“I have a feeling the season will last longer and we are going to see more nests in the days to come. The hope is certainly that,” Akila says, pointing out that sea turtles have been on earth for millions of years longer than humans, and that the slump this year would eventually be evened out as long as trawlers don’t continue to kill the turtles.
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