After the recent tagging of Olive Ridley sea turtles along the eastern coast of the country, a female turtle of the same species became the first one to be satellite-tagged along the western coast, said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Wildlife of the Mangrove Protection Cell Virendra Tiwari.
Tiwari said, “The Maharashtra coast has sporadic nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles. Till now, turtles have been tagged only along the east coast of India. In a first for a western coast, a female Olive Ridley turtle was successfully satellite-tagged in Maharashtra’s Velas.”
A research project ‘Tracking the migratory movements of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Maharashtra’ has been commissioned by the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra Forest Department to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The study is aimed at understanding the movement pattern of the turtle off the coast of Western India.
A total of five Olive Ridley sea turtles are to be satellite-tagged under this project of which the first one has been tagged in Velas. “This turtle has been named ‘Prathama’ as it was the first to be satellite-tagged and also signifies the start of a new era in sea turtle conservation in Maharashtra,” said Tiwari
The Mangrove Foundation, Maharashtra Forest Department and WII plan to tag the four others from different beaches in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.