🛑 Olive Ridley Turtle Deaths in Tamil Nadu
Rising Bycatch Mortality Sparks Conservation Alarms

⚠️ Recent Mortality Surge

Between 300 and 350 olive ridley turtles have been found dead along Tamil Nadu’s coastline — a sharp spike during the early nesting season.
📍 Notable locations: Neelankarai, Besant Nagar, Kovalam, and Pulicat.

• Reports have especially intensified in Chennai and Kancheepuram districts.
• The State Forest Department is actively investigating the causes, collecting data and post-mortem reports.

🎣 What’s Causing These Deaths?

🔍 Primary Cause:
Bycatch in commercial fishing operations is the major culprit.

• Turtles accidentally get caught in trawl nets, preventing them from surfacing for air — leading to drowning.

🐟 Why now?
Higher fish density this season may have drawn more fishing vessels, increasing the risk of turtle entanglement.

🧪 Health Indicators from Post-Mortems

• Bulging eyes
• Swollen necks
• Lung lesions

These are consistent with suffocation due to drowning, confirming death by entrapment in fishing nets.
💡 This highlights the urgent need for regulatory measures to curb turtle mortality.

🐢 Olive Ridley Nesting Season

⏳ Timeline: Late November to March
🌍 Major Sites: Odisha (Gahirmatha), Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu

• Females lay 100–110 eggs per nest and carefully bury them under sand.
• They are famous for Arribada — the mass nesting spectacle where thousands arrive simultaneously.

🛡️ Current Conservation Measures

📍 Andhra Pradesh: Fishing ban enforced near Hope Island for a month
📣 Conservationists urge:

• Mandatory use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in nets
• Stricter monitoring of trawling practices
• Community awareness and coastal patrolling

🔍 Know Your Species: Olive Ridley Turtle

• Scientific Name: Lepidochelys olivacea
• Size: 62–70 cm
• Weight: 35–45 kg
• Habitat: Tropical and warm waters across the globe
• Status: 🟠 Vulnerable (IUCN Red List)
• Unique Trait: Participate in Arribada, one of nature’s largest synchronized nesting events.

🌍 Why This Matters

The olive ridley turtle plays a vital role in marine ecosystems, maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs.
Its protection is not just about saving a species — it’s about preserving the balance of marine life.

Valuable Information:

📘 IUCN Red List Categories (from least to most threatened)

1. 🟢 Least Concern (LC):
   Species is widespread and abundant, facing no immediate threat of extinction.
2. 🟡 Near Threatened (NT):
   Species is close to qualifying for a threatened category in the near future.
3. 🟠 Vulnerable (VU):
   Species faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. (Example: Olive Ridley Turtle)
4. 🔴 Endangered (EN):
   Species faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
5. ⚫ Critically Endangered (CR):
   Species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
6. ⚫ Extinct in the Wild (EW):
   Species survives only in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its native range.
7. ⚫ Extinct (EX):
   No known individuals remaining.

❗Additional Classifications:

• Data Deficient (DD):
  Not enough data to assess the species’ risk.
• Not Evaluated (NE):
  Species has not yet been assessed by IUCN.