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Marine Turtle Newsletter 123:23-27, © 2009
NEWS AND LEGAL BRIEFS
This section is compiled by seaturtle.org. You can submit news items at any time online at <https://seaturtle.org/news/>, via e-mail to news@seaturtle.org, or by regular mail to the Editors. Many of these news items and more can be found at <https://seaturtle.org/news/>, where you can also sign up for news updates by E-mail. Note that News Items are taken directly from various media sources and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the editorial members of the MTN.
AMERICAS
Local Group Receives GEF-SGP Grant for Sea Turtles
The St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network (SKSTMN) has been successful in securing a Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) grant for implementation of the project "Creating Sustainable Livelihoods through Community Based Sea Turtle Conservation in St. Kitts/Nevis." This is the first successful full grant provided by the GEF-SGP in St. Kitts, and the total budget for implementation of the project is $47,673.90. GEFSGP exists to address global environmental problems at the community level. Its objectives are to achieve environmental sustainability, alleviate and reduce poverty, and develop capacity. Some of the goals of the SKSTMN's funded project include the development and implementation of a turtle friendly certification process for businesses within close proximity to nesting beaches, the development of a sea turtle eco-tour package, the development of alternate employment for sea turtle fishermen and local citizens through craft making and tour guide activities, and the protection of the two main leatherback nesting beaches. It was also announced that members of the SKSTMN will begin delivering presentations on the programme to several communities in January. Schedules of these presentations will be made available on their Web site at <http://www.stkittsturtles.com>. Source: Sun St. Kitts/Nevis, 6 December 2008
Weather Cited in Dozens of NC Sea Turtle Strandings
Sea turtles, stunned by the cold temperatures, are washing up on Outer Banks beaches in overwhelming numbers this month - so many that rescuers can barely keep up and space for them is filling up at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Michelle Bogardus, sea turtle biotechnician at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, said the sudden drop in water temperatures apparently caught the turtles -most of whom had been feeding in the Pamlico Sound - by surprise. The reptiles do not adapt well to water below 50 to 60 degrees. With about 40 strandings on Hatteras Island so far this month - double the number last November - harried stranding staff members and volunteers are spinning in circles trying to help the cold-blooded animals fast enough. Before last year, it was typical to see fewer than 10 strandings in November. Most of the turtles found alive will recover if they're caught in time, Bogardus said. Wendy Cluse, assistant sea turtle biologist with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, said that when the turtles are cleared for release by wildlife veterinarians, they will be taken by boat to the Gulf Stream to be released. Source: Virginian Pilot, 26 November 2008
State Panel Floats "Litter Tax" to Curb Debris Along Coast
The influential California Ocean Protection Council has proposed an attack on everyday threats to sea life, including a ban on some popular take-out food containers and fees on plastic and paper bags. The panel also recommended imposing upfront charges on other packaging commonly left on beaches, such as snack-food bags and candy wrappers. This so-called litter tax also would extend to cigarettes because so many butts are extinguished in the sand. The proposals must be enacted by the Legislature, which has balked at tax increases and defeated a bill last year to tack a charge on plastic bags at the checkout counter. There's also stiff resistance from powerful business interests warning of higher costs during the economic downturn. Makers of plastics said they are taking voluntary steps to cut waste. Ocean litter threatens rare sea turtles, sea birds, sea otters and hundreds of other marine species. Many animals mistake litter for food and ingest the potentially deadly debris. Eighty percent of ocean litter comes from land sources, the ocean council said. Trash gets trapped in places where ocean currents and winds converge. One of the most prominent problems is in the North Pacific gyre, where a "trash island" weighing roughly 3.5 million tons floats about 1,000 miles off California's coast. The council, established by the California Ocean Protections Act of 2004, coordinates the activities of ocean-related state agencies and proposes legislative changes. Lawmakers are expected to introduce measures for reducing ocean litter in coming weeks, but those bills may become tangled in the state's budget morass. Meanwhile, conservationists are pushing local initiatives. On Wednesday, the natural resources committee of the San Diego City Council will review a draft ordinance to prohibit major grocery stores and pharmacy chains from providing plastic carry-out bags. Bans or fees on bags have been adopted from San Francisco to Mumbai, India. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to impose a ban on such bags if voluntary programs to reduce their use don’t succeed. Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 December 2008
$7M Institute for Marine Mammal Studies to Open Soon
Dolphin lovers at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies are flipping over their new state-of-the-art museum and research facility expected to open within the next few weeks. IMMS President Moby Solangi said the new 12-acre Center for Marine Education and Research will open as soon as Harrison County officials can pave the entrance along the Industrial Seaway. With more than 750,000 gallons of tank space, and a veterinary hospital and surgery center, Solangi said the facility will be unmatched by any other marine mammal research center along the Gulf of Mexico. IMMS, a nonprofit group established in 1984, will use the facility to study and treat injured animals. Those that cannot be released back into the wild could eventually be housed at the nearby oceanariums or a future aquarium on the Coast. It will be the first facility completely devoted to dolphin rescue and rehabilitation in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and the only facility capable of caring for sick and injured marine mammals. In addition, IMMS will be able to rehabilitate sick and injured sea turtles. The $7 million facility also includes a necropsy lab, a pump house for operating life-support systems, fish houses to store food and three pools capable of housing animals at any stage of rehabilitation. The facility includes classrooms and laboratories, a museum and a 200-seat auditorium. IMMS officials hope to book numerous educational tours and school field trips. Since 2006, IMMS has spread its message of conservation during more than 70 classroom visits and the institute also has rescued hundreds of stranded creatures in its 24-year history. Source: Biloxi Sun Herald, 29 November 2008
Researcher Recognized by Popular Science
Bringing the sexy back—leatherback that is. UBC doctoral candidate in zoology Todd Jones was named to Popular Science magazine's prestigious "Brilliant Ten" list for his success in keeping juvenile leatherback sea turtles in captivity, providing vital comparative data for research and conservation. Jones was selected along with other young scientists. Popular Science had spent six months scrutinizing hundreds of nominations received from university department heads and professional associations across the US to finalize their top ten list. What makes Jones's study unique is that it is the only one to raise more than one leatherback in captivity from hatchling to juvenile. "[Our research is the] first to answer the basic biological questions: what are their juvenile behaviours? When will these leatherbacks reach puberty? How can these patterns affect their number [in the sea]?" Jones said. Leatherbacks are not hard-shelled like most turtles, but rather their back resembles "skin, [that is] rubbery like a dolphin," and past researchers could not prevent the leatherback from "bumping into the tank walls... giving cuts and abrasions," he said. To circumvent damage to the delicate turtles' skin, Jones used a soft rubber harness that kept them from hurting themselves during the crucial development times. The result is the record-breaking two healthy two-year-old leatherback turtles swimming happily in captivity. Jones is excited to work closely with leatherback turtles, "[I see them] daily, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year" says Jones, "It didn't matter if it was a birthday or Christmas, [I] had to be there for the last two and half of years." This attitude had earned him the Dean Fisher Memorial Scholarship in marine biology in 2002 and now, got him in Popular Science's Seventh Annual Brilliant Ten, focusing on ten outstanding young scientists. On a last note, Jones offered advice: "If people are inspired and they want to help, pay attention to what they are eating... .If it's seafood, check online to see if they are having an endangered species." He adds, "Pollution does end up in the ocean including plastics that can harm the ocean environment... .Being aware of these everyday sustainable ways can help." Without these conservation studies, the last 5000 leatherbacks remaining may become "extinct in our lifetime," he said. Source: The Ubyssey, 7 November 2008
Turtle Advocate Wins Award
Jean Beasley was honored Nov. 16, 2008 in King Hall Auditorium as the 2008 recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars Award. The award recognized her efforts to help save sea turtles. The purpose of this award is to recognize a person in the Cape Fear area who exemplifies the attributes and ideals of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Beasley is the founder and Executive Director of the Karen Beasley Memorial Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Hospital located in Topsail Island, N.C. Beasley was also named the Hero of the Year by the Animal Planet Network in 2007. Her dedication to the rescue of sea turtles inspires hope for the unknown future of the animals. Beasley gave a presentation entitled "Challenges in Conservation and the Canaries in the Coal Mine." Beasley identified specific challenges sea turtles face on beaches in North Carolina. Natural predators such as raccoons, foxes, birds, crabs and fire ants are a few of the many threats facing turtles. To Beasley, the natural food chain is inescapable and unfortunately sea turtles fall into the food chain; however, the natural species that prey on sea turtles are not the biggest concern, humans are. Beach chairs, tents, balloons and fishing gear are some of the things that endanger the turtles. "Nobody can convince me that we cannot find safe ways to fish without hurting non-targeted species," Beasley said. "If we can put a man on the mood and rovers on Mars, we can do this." Other things, such as boat propellers, nets and plastic are also some of the hazards sea turtles face. Source: UNC Seahawk, 13 November 2008.
Turtle Attacked By Dogs Gets Treatment In Florida
A hawksbill sea turtle that was attacked by wild dogs as she nested a month ago on a beach in St. Croix, arrived in South Florida Tuesday night and was transferred to the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital. "She was attacked by feral dogs or maybe someone's pet they let out the door, we're not sure," Micah Rogers from the Turtle Hospital said. The situation was so bad, veterinarians brought her to South Florida to be treated at the world renowned Turtle Hospital in Marathon. American Airlines even provided the free flight to Miami International Airport. "Sandy" the sea turtle weighs 170 pounds. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials discovered the injured turtle on Oct. 10 during a turtle survey in the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge. "Sandy" sustained serious injuries to her two front flippers and left rear flipper. "If we save her life, she is a female, she will be laying hundreds of hundreds of eggs every time she nests and if we lose her, that is how many animals we would lose," explained Rogers. The turtle was treated at St. Croix's Island Animal Clinic, but veterinarians there decided to send "Sandy" to the Turtle Hospital, a licensed veterinary facility exclusively dedicated to treating sick and injured sea turtles. Officials hope to eventually return "Sandy" to St. Croix. Source: CBS4.com, 12 November 2008.
OCEANIA
Endangered List Grows as Slow and Steady Lose Race
After surviving for more than 100 million years, the world's largest sea turtle has been placed on the Australian national threatened species list. Leatherback turtles, which are found in waters off NSW as well as south Queensland and Western Australia, can grow up to 1.6 metres in length and 700 kilograms. The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, said yesterday that the turtles, which had previously been classified as vulnerable, were now considered an endangered species. "The uplisting is mainly due to the ongoing threat the turtle faces from unsustainable harvesting of egg and meat, and pressures from commercial fishing outside Australian waters," he said. The move meant that any projects or activities that could have an effect on the reptiles would need to be assessed and approved by the Federal Government before they could go ahead. It is estimated that only about 2800 adult female turtles remain in the western Pacific region, and their numbers are expected to decline due to other risks, including boat strikes and choking on plastic bags and other marine debris. A NSW orchid and a Bankstown shrub, as well as alpine bogs, grasslands and woodlands across the state, were also among the 19 species and five ecological communities that the Department of Environment listed as critically endangered or endangered. Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 19 January 2009
What It Costs a Turtle Hatchling to Dash to Sea
A turtle hatchling's first swim is the most critical of its life. FAs many as 30 out of a 100 perish as they head for safe deep waters. But how much does this headlong dash through the waves cost the intrepid hatchlings? Curious to know, David Booth from the University of Queensland decided to measure hatchling turtles' oxygen consumption rates as they swam for safety. Travelling north to the university's research station on Heron Island, Booth was fortunate enough to have a lab within metres of a green turtle nesting beach. Visiting the beach as the mothers-to-be lumbered up on to the sand, Booth was able to collect several clutches of eggs and move them to the edge of the nesting site for safety from other egg-laying mothers. Returning to the site several months later, Booth intercepted several youngsters before they reached the sea. Transporting them 100 metres up the beach to the research station, he fitted each hatchling with a lycra swim suit with a cord attached to a force transducer before setting the youngster free in a seawater aquarium. As soon as they entered the water, the youngsters began swimming frantically with their large front flippers, pulling against the force transducer as if they were swimming out to sea. Meanwhile, Booth measured the youngsters' oxygen consumption as they swam for 18 hours to find out how hard they were working. Booth saw that initially the animals swam very hard using their front flippers with their heads down, only switching to a 'doggy paddle' as they came up for air before returning to frenzied front-flipper swimming. But as time drew on, they spent more time doggy paddling and less time pulling with their front flippers until they eventually began taking the odd break after about 12 hours. Analysing the hatchlings' oxygen consumption, Booth found the same trend with oxygen consumption falling rapidly during the first half hour before declining more slowly and eventually levelling off after 12 hours. Calculating the amount of energy that the hatchlings consumed during their 18-hour-swim, Booth realised that the turtles carry almost 10 times as much energy in their yolk remnants as they needed to reach safety. Booth suspects that they can probably survive 14 days in the open ocean before finding food. Source: Thai Indian News, 12 December 2008
ASIA
Taiwan, Cook Islands Cooperating on Fishing Enforcement
Taiwan and the Cook Islands have activated a mechanism to help uncover illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. The Cook Islands in the South Pacific recently notified the West and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) that it would operate a mutual fishery examination system with Taiwan. Under the deal, Taiwanese fishing boats operating in WCPFC areas are required to let Cook Islands fishery officials or police board and inspect their vessels to help crack down on transboundary IUU fishing. The Cook Islands is the second country after New Zealand to sign a mutual fishery examination agreement with Taiwan. About 1,500 Taiwanese commercial fishing boats operate in the western and central parts of the Pacific Ocean, mainly to catch tuna, sharks and sailfish. Of the total, 100 smaller longline fishing vessels, mainly used to catch tuna, that operate in open seas or in other economic zones under contract from those countries are the most likely to be targeted for inspection. Officials urged Taiwanese vessels to have their documents and fishing logbooks ready for inspection. They should also be properly equipped with fish-measuring and other monitoring equipment to help them avoid catching protected sea turtles or birds, or amassing younger fish that they are not allowed to catch. The Taiwan-New Zealand mutual fishery examination mechanism marked the first time that Taiwan had participated in such inspection efforts, which are aimed at maximizing long-term benefits from west and central Pacific fishing grounds. IUU catches can bring in up to US$9.5 billion, a World Commission on Protected Areas' High Seas Task Force study found. Up to 30 percent of IUU fishing occurs beyond national jurisdiction, where there are fewer controls, the study said. Source: Taipei Times , 29 November 2008
Green Turtle Rescued
A green turtle, called locally as pawikan, was rescued by Barangay officials and Maritime police in Tabaco City. The female turtle weighed 200 kg and measured 170 cm long and had a width of 97 cm. Senior Inspector Lupe Llorca, Tabaco City Maritime police chief, said that the green turtle was captured using a compressor in San Miguel Island in Tabaco. The turtle was reportedly brought to Barangay San Roque and was purportedly scheduled to be butchered Tuesday morning. Concerned residents, however, reported the incident to Maritime police who immediately conducted operations. The turtle was discovered near the shoreline of Barangay San Roque allegedly hidden under coconut leaves. Maritime police admitted that pawikan trade in Tabaco is quite alarming. Some fishermen would reportedly catch pawikan and sell it to Chinese clients for P60-P70 a kilo. Maritime police immediately released the rescued turtle at the coast of Barangay Salvacion also in Tabaco. An investigation is also on going to track down the fishermen who captured the pawikan. Since 2004, around twenty pawikan have been captured in Tabaco City. The city government is now conducting a study to determine if the Tabaco coastline is a breeding ground of the turtles. Source: The Philippine Star, 30 December 2008
Bantul Fishermen Save Giant Turtle
Fishermen at Samas beach in Srigading, Bantul, managed to save a 70-kilogram lekang sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) that was stranded at the beach and trapped in a fishing net. "The turtle was at the beach. When I was dragging my net Wednesday, I felt it was so heavy," fishermen Mugari said Thursday. Together with local fishermen, Mugari brought his accidental catch to a turtle breeding center managed by local fishermen. The sea turtle is being treated by the fishermen after sustaining injuries from the net ropes. The sea turtle will be released after it has fully recovered. Samas elder Rudjito said that in 2000 the local fishermen established the Bantul Turtle Conservation Forum (FKPB) to save turtles from poaching. The fishermen also operate a breeding ground in which fishermen look out for and buy sea turtle eggs from the locals to be hatched during the egg-laying season from July to September. So far the fishermen have released more than 3,000 tukik (hatchlings) into the sea. Source: Jakarta Post, 5 December 2008
EUROPE
Fingers Pointed in Turtle Deaths
Environmentalists in Didim have claimed that 'humans not nature' may have played a sinister role in the deaths of five rare turtles found washed up along the resort's coastline. Nature lovers have called on local administrators to take more protective measures for loggerhead sea turtles as the resort has been shaken by the deaths of the endangered sea turtles near the area's fish farms. The environmentalists assert the loggerheads, already facing the danger of extinction, were hacked into pieces by an axe while on their way to the fish farms around Mandalya Bay, located between Didim and Mugla. Some of them die from becoming caught in fishing nets, while others are killed by humans, they add. In the latest incident, in which a loggerhead was found on Altinkum's beach, a spokesperson from the Didim Office of Underwater Searches Association went to the scene and took DNA samples to establish the cause of death. He reported that there was a large wound on the back of the turtle, possibly from a propeller of a boat. The Ecosystem Protection and Nature Lovers Foundation (EKODOSD) has been keeping track of loggerheads since 2004, and have records of some turtles being deliberately killed by human hands. The EKODOSD stressed the need to protect sea turtles that use the Anatolian coasts as their breeding areas. If sea turtles are lost from the seas, one result will be too many jellyfish to swim. Source: Altinkum Voices, 6 December 2008
AFRICA
NOAA Team to Train Fishery Observers in Senegal
Scientists from the US will travel to Senegal this week to train government officials and university students to be marine resource observers on fishing boats. The observers will collect scientific information about the health of fish stocks and the amount of incidental bycatch of marine mammals and other protected species. This information is used to manage fish stocks and protect marine resources domestically and internationally, through organizations such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. The training program is designed to strengthen international cooperation in fisheries management. Increased international cooperation essential to stopping global overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The Magnuson-Stevens Act calls for NOAA's Fisheries Service to help nations improve monitoring and compliance with international fishing rules designed to rebuild stocks to help local and national economies. The training will focus on identification of marine mammals, sharks, sea turtles and other species as well as observer safety. NOAA will provide equipment and training materials to Senegal for the program and for future training. Source: NOAA Press Release, 28 January 2009
Mafia Marine Life Back as Illegal Fishing Tamed
There has been a reappearance of marine life thought to have been extinct, thanks to the success of the conservation of the Mafia Island Marine Parks (MIMP). The MIMP extends across 822 km, more than 75 per cent of it is below the high water mark and is one of the few remaining reef complexes within Tanzania's coastal waters in relative intact condition and recognised internationally as a critical site for biodiversity. The MIMP warden attributed the reappearance of the marine life to eradication of dynamite fishing within the area and lessened destruction of the environment. He said that the marine park had an abundance of green and hawksbill marine turtles and researchers and other marine park personnel had come across seahorses, an indication that marine environment was clean with little or no added nutrients from human waste. By June 2008, the number of villagers involved in alternative income generating activities that include seaweed farming, beekeeping and handcraft products increased to 1,462. The warden said that environmentally friendly fishing gear like gill-nets, stake traps, hooks and lines and basket traps had been promoted through the fishing gear exchange scheme where money has been loaned to 87 fishing groups comprising about 400 fishermen to procure outboard engines, dhows and nets. He added that the status of the park's marine environment has shown a steady upward trend since 2000 when fishing pressure was high, large usage of destructive and unsustainable fishing nets, dynamite fishing trampling of intertidal habitats and mangrove cutting as well as turtle killing. Meanwhile the MIMP Tourism and Public Relations officer said that a system to record and monitor visitors of the park had been developed and an increase of visitors had been seen from 343 in 2000/2001 to 3,341 in 2007/2008. He explained that there had been a steady increase in the number of foreign tourists coming to visit the park from just 484 in 2000 to 3,107 in 2007 but said that the figures for domestic tourists showed a dwindling trend from 393 in 2000 to 159 in 2007. MIMP is charged with the responsibility of integrating conservation, protection, sustainable resource-use, social and economic development with emphasis on participation of all stakeholders especially local community. Source: Tanzania Daily News, 24 January 2009
INDIAN OCEAN
India Moves Ahead to Save Endangered Turtles
Though the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has indicated a globally declining trend in the population of the olive ridley turtles due to factors like trawl fishing, destruction of habitat, global warming, etc., there are no reports showing decline in the population of Olive Ridley Turtles in India. Important steps have been taken by the central government and the state government of Orissa for the protection of olive ridley turtles. For example, the olive ridley turtle has been included in the Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 thereby according them highest degree of protection. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 has been amended and made more stringent. The punishments in cases of offences have been enhanced. The Act also provides for forfeiture of any equipment, vehicle or weapon used for committing wildlife offences. Wide publicity is given on provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 against poaching. The central government provides financial & technical assistance to the state governments. On the level of the state government of Orissa, the main nesting grounds of olive ridley turtles have been declared as Protected Areas. Fishing in the marine sanctuary area and restricted fishing zone is prohibited. Fishermen have been advised to use Turtle Excluding Devise (TED), which is mandatory, during trawling and to avoid trawling during nesting seasons. Regular patrolling in the sea is carried out by Wildlife Department in collaboration with the State Fisheries Department and Indian Coast Guard. Co-ordination meetings have been organized with local fishing communities regularly to gain their support in protection of olive ridley turtles. Hoardings have been installed at important fishing bases for generating public awareness. A Central Monitoring Unit in the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden, Orissa, is responsible for the operation carried out in each camp on a day to day basis. A High Level Committee has been constituted by the state government under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Orissa for regularly reviewing the sea turtle protection activities in coordination with various departments and the Indian Coast Guard. Recently, this committee met 29 November 2008. Finally, the Assistant Conservators of Forests in coastal forest divisions have been declared as authorized officers under the Orissa Fishing Regulation Act, 1981 to check illegal fishing vessels entering in to the prohibited fishing zones in the Orissa coastal waters. Source: Webnewswire.com, 24 December 2008
Hundreds of Sea Turtles Die Along Odisha Coast
In a setback to olive ridley turtle conservation programmes, carcasses of these marine species have begun emerging along the placid beaches along the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary for the past week. As ghastly scenes of stray dogs feasting on bloated and mutilated bodies of these marine animals are too glaring to escape notice, wildlife activists are shocked over abysmal lack of protective cover to these species. A total of 372 bodies of turtles have so far been reported by government officials, who also have stepped up vigil on unlawful trawling to ensure the safety of breeding turtles. Unofficial estimates, however, put the causality figure at more than 1000. Turtles are meeting gory ends by either getting entangled in mono-filament fishing nets or being hit by trawls' propellers, according to wildlife activists. The spectre of death pervades the entire Pentha and Agarnasi coastline. It does not augur well before the onset of arribada or mass nesting of turtles, confided a forest official. Unnamed sources say that the forest department is trying to put the casualty toll on a lower scale to cover up its inefficiency, and the actual toll is at least five times higher even by conservative estimates. Source: Kalinga Times, 10 December 2008.
Baby Turtles Released
With 51 baby olive ridley turtles being released into the sea at Morjim on Friday, the Save Turtle' campaign launched by the forest department of Tuem, Pernem, can be termed a success. It had recently gained momentum with officials and locals intensifying patrolling along the Morjim beach. Over the years, the Morjim beach has become the favourite nesting ground for sea turtles. According to S.R. Prabhu, range forest officer, this season the first olive ridley turtle appeared for nesting in October 2008 and laid 113 eggs. Earlier, between November 2007 and February 2008, 741 eggs were laid at Morjim beach. "Though an increase in tourism activities and human intervention has disturbed olive ridley turtle nesting, this season we hope that this unique species will arrive in large numbers," a forest officer said, adding that before laying eggs, a turtle digs a cavity into the sand and lays nothing less than 300 to 400 eggs depending upon its size. Source: Times of India, 14 December 2008