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Olive Ridley Turtle


IUCN Status: Critically endangered

Lepidochelys olivacea, Olive ridley turtle. This species is found on the beaches of the French Guiana during the dry season, starting in July. The only known important nesting by Olive Ridleys in the West Atlantic occurs in Surinam, with small numbers in Guyana. Three major threats to Olive Ridley populations have been identified: commercial harvest of adults, incidental catch in shrimp trawls, and harvest of eggs from nest beaches. French Guiana

Named after H.N. Ridley FRS who first reported the sighting of Olive Ridleys in Brazil in 1887 and their overall olive green colour, Olive Ridleys are the smallest of the marine turtle species in the world. They grow to an average of 70 cms long and adults weigh approximately 45 kgs. The carapace is tear drop shaped.

They are omnivorous, feeding on crustaceans and molluscs. They can dive to great depths and may be bottom feeders. They are highly migratory, covering thousands of kilometers between foraging and nesting grounds.

The most fascinating feature of Olive Ridley is their mass nesting called ‘arribada’ meaning mass arrival in Spanish. They choose narrow beaches near estuaries and bays to lay eggs. Each adult female lays approximately 100-140 eggs at a time. It is believed that they nest in an interval of one-four years. The nesting season is between November to March.

In India, arribada takes place in the east coast state of Orissa at three nesting grounds Gahirimatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth. The later being the site of mass nesting for the season 2002-03. Gahirmatha which was the site of mass nesting for many years hardly had the visitors from the sea.

WWF-India launched a campaign in the Rushikulya nesting beach in April 2003 for the protection of the nests and the hatchlings.

Olive Ridleys nest sporadically along the coastline of India. In West Coast, nesting beaches in Gujarat are Gulf of Kutch (Jamnagar with the maximum number of nest) and Gulf of Khambhat (Bhavnagar being a major nesting ground). In Maharashtra Olive Ridleys have been reported nesting near Gorai, Kihim, Manowrie, Versova and the beach between Ambolgad and Vetye in the Ratnagiri district.

There are two beaches in Goa namely Morjim and Galgibag; and Kozhikode district (Calicut) in Kerala which are frequented by these turtles for nesting. Sporadic nesting has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and in Sundarbans in West Bengal.




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