50% DROP IN OLIVE RIDLEY NESTS ALONG KONKAN COASTLINE Pune: Industrial activity around coastal areas has cast its shadow on the nesting season of the endangered Olive Ridley turtle this year. There has been a disturbing 50 % drop in the total number of nests along the coastline in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts and experts hope the activity would pick up before the nesting season ends in March. Those working in this region and in the field of turtle conservation have counted 36 Olive Ridley nests along the coastline of the three districts. They say that large scale development in the vicinity of ecologically critical coastal areas and sea pollution are largely responsible for the drop in numbers this year. "The region had once recorded close to 200 nests about four to five years ago. However, there has been a decline in the nests in the past three years. This year has been miserable with just 36 nests and we hope that the next two months are fruitful," said Bhau Katdare, founder of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra that has been working in the region for over a decade on turtle conservation. Environmentalists say there are huge pipelines pumping industrial waste into the sea with no concern about the impact it would have on marine life. "Some industries have been passing huge pipelines into the sea and unfortunately, they do not seem to understand that it could pose a threat to the marine life," said environmentalist Madhav Gadgil. He added that the fishermen have to attach a ‘turtle exclusion device’ to the fish net that excludes turtles while fishing "but I am not too sure how many of the fishermen in the coastal area of Maharashtra really follow this", he said. Velas, which has a history of recording the highest number of nests in a season as compared to other areas in the coastal line, has so far seen just 11 nests, while Dive Agar beach is still an empty beach, without nests. Some of the beaches where nests have been counted so far include Velas (11), Kelshi (1), Anjarla (1), Murud (1), Kolthare (3) in Ratnagiri while Maral (3) and Harihareshwar (2) in the Raigad districts. Katdare said, "We are still unable to find any specific reason for this year-byyear decline but the chemical leftover of the ships that travel through the sea could be causing danger to the habitat." He also attributed the decline to egg poaching that takes place in the region. The NGO conducted a survey last year and found that people were consuming these eggs as they are nutritious. "However, awareness among villagers has helped in ceasing this activity to a large extent," Katdare said. Then there are other factors that have led to the decline in nesting activity. Kartik Shanker, a biologist at the Centre for Ecological Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore said, "Soil erosion is also an important factor that could lead to a decline in nests at beaches. Also, the area is experiencing a change in high tide which has resulted in decrease in beach area where the turtles build their nests." Katdare said that turtles arrived at the Anjarle beach first in mid-November to lay eggs, marking the beginning of the nesting season. "Once the temperature starts dipping, turtles start arriving at the beaches to lay their eggs." According to Katdare, one Olive Ridley turtle lays 100 to 150 eggs in a nest. The eggs start to hatch in 60 days. There is a 60% chance of emergence of hatchlings from a single nest. This year, the Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra is conducting the turtle conservation programme in 45 villages in Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga districts in association with the state forest department, state environment department as well as the United Nations Development Programme. In the last 10 years, the NGO has conserved 756 Olive Ridley nests and released 32,789 hatchlings in the sea.