The Olive Ridley sea turtle or the Pacific Ridley sea turtle
is considered to be the smallest and the most abundant of all sea turtles in
the world. Yet in a single generation (20 years) their population has declined
drastically from more than 10 million in the pre-mass extinction era to about
800,000 as per a recent count.
In the midst of this gloom there is still hope. A tiny
village in Maharashtra, which doesn’t even have 5 full sentences as description
on Wikipedia, has been working with local NGOs for over a decade now towards conservation
of these endangered species.
Velas is a small village in the Ratnagiri district of
Maharashtra and is about an 8 hour drive from Mumbai. A decade ago the
villagers were concerned about the Olive Ridleys to be able to steal the eggs
once laid for consumption or for sale and to hunt the female turtles when they
came on shore to breed for the meat or again for sale. However, that was before
they joined hands with Sayhadri Nisarg Mitra, an organization which works with
these same villagers now towards massive conservation efforts.
Over the past decade, not only have they successfully
managed to change the age old habits by making villagers protect the eggs
instead of stealing them, they have also helped the residents tap into an
additional source of income and put this nondescript village on the tourist map
for the turtle breeding months. And this is without any institutional support
or a conducive ecosystem for wildlife conservation.
Come November, the female turtles swim in hordes to these
shores to lay their eggs in batches of 3 to 4 where each batch consists of
100-150 eggs. It might seem a lot, however the survival rate of these turtles
is only 1 in 1000. Thus, only a handful of the turtles hatched from these eggs
reach adulthood and the females, it is said return to the same shores to lay
eggs where they were born; thus, travelling distances across several hundreds
of miles to complete the circle of life.
The eggs once laid, are pretty much left on their own to
figure out their way in this cruel world. The members of Sayhadri Nisarg Mitra
along with volunteers from the village transfer these batches of eggs to
hatcheries to protect them from dogs and other animals. These hatcheries,
though are man-made, but have to replicate the conditions created by the female
turtle while she laid them. This means, the depth, the temperature of the sand
and the moisture needs to be replicated. In fact the difference in these
factors not only impacts the rate of the eggs hatching, but also determines the
gender of the new born turtles.
After an incubation period of up to 3 months, the eggs
hatch. And there can be no better words to describe the scene, other than it is
what a miracle looks like. In this crazy race of conquering the world, we tend
to overlook the intricate designs nature has, and how everything takes care of
itself, as long as we do not poke our annoying human noses. These little
hatchlings, with no motherly support around, barely with any sense of sight,
only rely on their intuition as they move together towards the sea using their
miniscule flippers. Majority of them do not survive even the first few
kilometres into their journey of life. Several die over the years if not due to
natural causes, then due to human greed.
For the few that do survive, return to
their shore of birth to start a new cycle.
On an average a female turtle reaches maturity and starts
laying eggs in 20 years. It’s only a couple of years of wait to see if the
efforts of this tiny village and Sayhadri Nisarg Mitra have been successful.
And if out of the batch of turtles they released more than a decade ago, return
to pay them a visit.
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| Entrance to Harihareshwar |
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| Sunset at Velas |
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| Velas Beach |
