One tagged turtle in race to reach Gujarat: Officials

The satellite tagging of turtles will help in understanding the population and migration pattern of Olive Ridley sea turtles on the western coast of India

The satellite tagging of turtles on the west coast has provided some interesting updates. According to the data provided by Mangroves Cell, female turtle Prathma has travelled 250 km from Velas, female turtle Saavni has travelled 101 km from Anjarle, Vanashree has travelled 74 km from Guhagar and Rewa has travelled 156 km from Guhagar. There are chances that one of the turtles may even enter the Gujarat waters.

However, the Mangrove Cell of the Maharashtra Forest Department had recently lost track of the female turtle Laxmi that was tagged on February 16. The experts suspect that this may be due to the malfunctioning of the transmitter or the turtle may have died.

Talking to mid-day Virendra Tiwari, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) and head of Mangrove Cell said, "As the days are progressing, we are getting important updates regarding the movement of our satellite-tagged turtles. If we look at the movement pattern of the turtles in a straight line, male turtle Prathama has travelled 250 km from Velas, female turtle Saavni has travelled 101 km from Anjarle Vanashree has travelled 74 km from Guhagar and Rewa has travelled 156 km from Guhagar."

While the satellite image about the movement of the female turtle Prathama shows that it has travelled a few nautical miles away from the Mumbai coast, if the journey continues ahead then it might enter Gujarat waters. If we see the perpendicular distance from the west coast shoreline, then Prathama is 86 km from Dahanu, Saavni is 73 km from Murud, Vanashree is 5 km from Ganeshgule and Rewa is 5 km from Tondavali. The tagging of five turtles has been successfully monitored by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), along with the Mangrove Foundation team and local forest staff.

Turtle conservation in state

Maharashtra coast has sporadic nesting of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. Till now, Olive Ridley sea turtles have been tagged only on the east coast of India. This was the first satellite tagging project of Olive Ridley Sea Turtle on the western coast of India. A research project ‘Tracking the migratory movements of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Maharashtra' has been commissioned by the Mangrove Foundation, Maharashtra Forest Department to the WII. This study will help in understanding the movement pattern of the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Western India.

Map tracking the sea turtles of Maharashtra

On January 25 2022, two Olive Ridley Sea Turtles were satellite-tagged for the first time on the western coast of India at Velas and Anjarle in Ratnagiri district. They were named ‘Prathama' and ‘Savani'. Furthermore, three more female turtles were fixed with the satellite transmitter at Guhagar in Ratnagiri district on February 15 and 16, 2022. These three turtles were named ‘Vanashree', ‘Laxmi' and ‘Rewa'.

The findings of this project will help in understanding the population of Olive Ridley sea turtles on the western coast of India, their migration pattern, foraging ground and their behaviour. The Mangrove Foundation and Mangrove Cell Forest Department are planning to take up more such research initiatives to strengthen the turtle conservation of Maharashtra.

According to Dr R. Suresh Kumar, Scientist - Department of Endangered Species Management from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said, "Prathma and Saavni has travelled 60 days so far, Rewa 39 days and Vanashree 38 days. We cannot say when they are most active as this data is not something that can be collected."

25 January
Day two Olive Ridley Sea Turtles were satellite-tagged for the first time on the western coast