Tagged turtles reach Gujarat, Karnataka from Maharashtra

Mapping the routes of tagged Olive Ridley sea turtles. Pic/Mangrove Cell

The satellite tagging of turtles done on the west coast seems to be providing interesting updates. One of the turtle have entered the coastal waters of Diu and Daman and another turtle has entered the coastal waters of Karnataka.

Speaking to mid-day, Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) and head of Mangrove Cell says, "As the days are progressing, we are getting important updates regarding the movement of our satellite-tagged turtles. Prathma is presently located 65 km from Diu coast and has moved a straight line distance of 330 km Northwest of Velas since tagging. Rewa has been steadily moving south and has crossed Goa and now entered the waters of Karnataka. Presently located 40 km offshore from Karwar in Karnataka."

Saavni is presently about 90 km straight from the Maharashtra coast. Vanashree continues to move south along the coast and is presently about 25 km straight line from Ambolgadh beach.

The tagging of five turtles has been successfully done and monitoring is being done by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) along with the Mangrove Foundation team and local forest staff.

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 is 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 Wildlife Institute of India(WII). This study will help in understanding the movement pattern of Olive Ridley sea turtles off the coast of Western India.

On January 25, 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 behavior. The Mangrove Foundation and Mangrove Cell, forest department are planning to take up more such research initiatives to strengthen the turtle conservation of Maharashtra.