‘Where did the tagged turtle go?’

The female turtle Laxmi at Guhagar last month

There is some bad news for people working in the field of turtle conservation, as the Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra Forest department has not received signals/locations of the female turtle Laxmi that was tagged on the west coast of the state last month.

Talking to mid-day Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) and head of Mangrove Cell said, "Since March 2, 2022, no signals/locations have been received from the female turtle Laxmi which was tagged at Guhagar on February 16, 2022. It is suspected that this may be due to the malfunctioning of the transmitter or the turtle may have died." The tagging of five turtles was successfully done and they are being monitored by the 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 was the first satellite-tagging project of Olive Ridley sea turtles 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 the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles off the coast of Western India.

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 MangroveFoundation and Mangrove Cell, Forest department are planning to take up more such research initiatives to strengthen the turtle conservation of Maharashtra.