The Olive Ridley turtle is one of the smallest sea turtles. It gets it’s name from the olive color of it’s shell. These small 100lb turtles are remarkable in the fact that they travel each year back to the same beach where they hatched from in order to mate. The Olive Ridley turtle is also one of the most endangered turtle species. Major threats to the turtle stem from trawling and threats to it’s nesting grounds.
The beaches of Orissa represent one of the last nesting grounds for the Olive Ridley turtle. One of the threats to it’s nesting grounds here, is the TATA steel port (Dhamra port). While evidence from various studies and the EIA report submitted show that the region is not frequented by turtles, the port’s proximity to an ecologically sensitive region is questionable. The port is less than 5 kilometres from the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary, India’s second largest mangrove forest, and less than 15 km. from the turtle nesting beaches at Gahirmatha Sanctuary. Besides this, several other rare reptiles and amphibians including a rare species of horseshoe crab nest here.
So if you care about our little turtle buddies, write to Ratan Tata, exhorting him to move the port to less ecologically sensitive location.
Technorati Tags: Tata, Ratan Tata, Orissa, Olive Ridley Turtles, Save the Turtles, Greenpeace
I'm Elroy Serrao, a technologist, photographer, and part time blogger from India.
I love to design web sites, program in php and rails in my free time and of course go trekking and clicking pictures in the great outdoors.
I'm from Mumbai, and am an alumnus of Mumbai University and NMIMS.