Olive Ridley turtles

Olive Ridley turtles

Part of: Prelims and GS III – Environment 

Context: As a record number of 4.92 lakh Olive Ridley turtles have crawled to the Rushikulya coast in Odisha, scientists have tagged more than 6,000 turtles to gather more information about their breeding behaviour and migration.

• This is the highest nesting which has broken all records for the coast.
• Before the tagging of the turtles, it was assumed that it was a migratory species. 
• Now the tagging has revealed that the Olive Ridley turtles can travel up to Sri Lanka. 
• Also, the migratory turtle is present in the entire Bay of Bengal and even on the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Olive Ridley

• The Olive Ridley sea turtle is the most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
• It is found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• It is best known for their unique mass nesting called arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• IUCN status: Vulnerable.

Marine Turtles

• Five species of sea turtles are known to inhabit Indian coastal waters and islands.
  • Olive Ridley turtle 
  • Green turtle
  • Hawksbill turtle
  • Loggerhead turtle
  • Leatherback turtle
• Except the Loggerhead, the remaining four species nest along the Indian coast.

News Source: TH