Olive Ridley turtles fall prey to the rising heat
Posted on: 30/Apr/2013 4:46:09 PM
The rising temperatures have taken their toll on the endangered Olive Ridley turtles that visit the Chennai coast every year to lay their eggs between January and March. The eggs hatch between April and May and the baby turtles find their way back to the sea. These turtles are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife protection Act, 1972.
Say coordinators of the Volunteers of Students’ Sea Turtle Conservation Netwrok (VSSTCN), ‘We released 8,692 hatchlings from 105 nests on the Marina, and 9,422 hatchlings from 110 nests in Besant Nagar. This puts the survival rate at an average of 80 hatchlings per nest… This year, there were several nests that did not hatch at all. Some eggs were fused, some were small… Many eggs hatched but baby turtles found dead on the sand, baked by the sun… We used yards of jute cloth to protect the hatchery from the heat, but the survival rate is still low.’
