At a time when Chennaiites are grieving over the massive oil spill on the shores of the city, a group of youngsters has taken it upon themselves to try and save the already endangered Olive Ridley turtles from further danger. The Ridley Turtle Trail is a joint effort by Ezone India and Symatara and is organised every year to save Olive Ridley turtles, at Marina beach.
“The walk starts at around 12 in the night from Marina beach and covers areas such as Neelangarai, Akkarai and Kovalam. In today’s changing climate, this acts as a chance for individuals to take on inspirational roles and engage in contributing to society in an innovative way. This is an opportunity to make a difference for your family, friends and the environment,” says Hafiz Khan, Ezone India.
Ezone India is a training organisation involved in conducting various environment sensitisation programmes for corporates, colleges and schools, whereas Symatara is an NGO which works for community development and environment programmes. Despite this being conducted for the conservation of this special species, the deaths of these turtles have been dreadfully rising every year during the nesting season due to wide-mesh nets. “These walks have been happening for three years now—prominent reasons for listing these turtles as endangered are global warming that causes climate extremes, and mass fishing that proves dangerous for these turtles. Most of the boats pull their fishing nets only after submerging them for two or three hours, during which time, the turtles drown to death for want of fresh air, which they need every 45 minutes,” says Youssef Labidi, a turtle walk coordinator.
Due to various incidents like the jallikattu protests and the recent oil spill, the Turtle Trails’ schedules have been affected, but the organisers are expecting a good turnout of volunteers nonetheless.
Although we have become aware of the turtles only after they turned endangered, the species has been frequenting Chennai’s beaches for as long as one can remember. Their vulnerable status comes from the fact that they nest in a very small number of places, and therefore any disturbance to even one nest beach could have huge consequences on their dwindling population.
Events include beach clean-up that starts generally in December, as the Olive Ridley nests during this period. After laying eggs on the seashore, the hungry mother turtles eat trash, suffocate and die.
The Ridley run, on March 5 is to create awareness on the endangered turtles, with 1 km, three kilometer and five kilometer categories for children, women and men of all age groups. Apart from this, the sand sculpting contest will take place on February 19 at Marina beach for college students. Also, night walks are being organised from January to March 17, starting at 11 pm every night in various locations along with wildlife forest department. People could witness mother turtles coming to the shores, making their nest and laying eggs, which are collected and moved to safe hatcheries.
The final event is the baby turtle farewell that will take place from March to May — the eggs are hatched after 45 days and the hatchlings are released into the sea.
