ZSI scientists elated over successful tracking of Olive Ridley turtles after geo-tagging

Kolkata: Scientists at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) are elated over the movement of Olive Ridley turtles some thousand-odd kilometres away in Sri Lanka in mid-August, just four months after they were tagged at Rushikulya rookery in Odisha.

The ZSI tagged around 3,500 Olive Ridley turtles this year along the Odisha coast mainly for the purpose of identifying the reptiles’ migration path, areas of foraging, and places visited by them after congregation and nesting.

“A turtle geo-tagged in April 2022 migrated to Geruwala Beach in western Sri Lanka, ten months later. This year, a turtle that was geo-tagged in April was located even farther at Colombo Coast in Sri Lanka,” said Basudev Tripathy, a scientist at ZSI.

Olive Ridley Turtles gather in lakhs at the mass nesting sites and Rushikulya happens to be the second largest mass nesting site in the world. The nesting continues for a period of five to seven nights.

“Olive Ridley turtles are Schedule I animals and presently stand in a vulnerable category in IUCN. Interestingly, a large number of turtles geo-tagged in 2022 have been found to have returned to the same place this year. So, it is of utmost importance to protect the beaches from their mass nesting,” added Tripathy.

The conservation efforts have turned out to be fruitful as these turtles have moved from the ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ category in the IUCN list. Trawling, gill nets, ghost nests, longline fishing, and pot fishing have significantly affected Olive Ridley populations along with other species of marine turtles.

Between 1993 and 2003, more than 100,000 such turtles were reported dead in Odisha due to fishery-related practices.

Researchers have set a target of tagging at least 15000 turtles over the next few years. Last year, nearly 7000 were tagged. Metal tags attached to the turtles are non-corrosive and not harmful. A senior scientist involved in the tagging exercise said that it will also help ascertain whether younger or older ones are returning to the same site.