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Marine Turtle Newsletter 63:S1-2, © 2001

"Urgent and Immediate Action" Needed to Safeguard the World's Largest Aggregation of Nesting Sea Turtles

Soon these textbook statistics may be all that remain of the olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea). classified as "endangered" in the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Red Data Book: The diminutive olive ridley is recognized by its nearly round carapace (the width about 90% of the length) and an adult color of olive green or brown dorsally and yellowish white ventrally. Adults rarely exceed 100 lb (45 kg) and 72 cm in shell length. The lateral plates (those to either side of the median on the shell) are divided into 5-9 pairs, whereas other sea turtles typically have 4-5 pairs. The species is omnivorous, favoring fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and tunicates in its diet. Females lay their eggs (about 100 at a time) on sandy beaches in tropical and subtropical latitudes.

Having been nearly eliminated over the course of this century at three of four historical nesting sites in Mexico, there are now only four significant arribada (mass nesting) beaches left in the world; namely, two on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, one on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and one at Gahirmatha in Orissa, India. Gahirmatha stands alone as the site where more sea turtles nest than at any other spot on Earth -- more than a half million females laid eggs during a single week in March 1991! The phenomenon of the arribada is poorly understood by scientists, but the event itself is well-known. Thousands and thousands and thousands of females, wave after wave of them, come ashore to nest at once. And just as quickly, they are gone, leaving millions of eggs behind.

Why should we be concerned about an obviously healthy number of sea turtles nesting in a remote and distant place? Because the entire Gahirmatha population is seriously -- very seriously -- threatened. Readers of the MTN will remember that earlier this year Harry Andrews of the Madras (India) Crocodile Bank drew our attention to the plight of the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary. including Gahirmatha beach. Some 10 km from the beach the Government of India plans to develop a major fishing port for shrimp trawlers, a processing plant and large-scale prawn culture facility, and a road to be built straight through the mangroves. The tragedy is that there are viable alternatives to the siting of this commercial complex, including existing facilities at nearby Paradeep and Dhamara (both already have road access), which could be expanded in lieu of building an entirely new facility near the sensitive Bhitarkanika Sanctuary.

There is no question but that the proposed development could literally spell the end of the unrivaled nesting beach. We urge you to read the rest of this special supplement and to write letters as indicated. Forgetting for a moment that the unique spectacle of the world's largest arribada site is certainly worth preserving for its own sake, N. Mrosovsky (below) suggests several considerations to keep in mind as you write your letters. This is certainly an issue of global concern. Please, make your voices heard! Public action managed to stall a missile site at Gahirmatha a few years ago -- let's do it again! KLE/SAE