Record Details

Stranded Olive Ridley Turtle on Edakkazhiyur Beach, Chavakkad, Kerala, India

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Relation http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/14749/
https://www.iotn.org/iotn30-05-stranded-olive-ridley-turtle-on-edakkazhiyur-beach-chavakkad-kerala-india/
 
Title Stranded Olive Ridley Turtle on Edakkazhiyur Beach, Chavakkad, Kerala, India
 
Creator James, N J
Saleem, Abdul
Sundaram, Sujit
 
Subject Marine Turtle
Conservation
Marine Biodiversity
 
Description Edakkazhiyur beach (10º36´32´´N, 75º59´24´´E) in Chavakkad, Kerala, India, is a known nesting ground for olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). The nesting season in this area runs from November to March, and over the years the number of nests along Chavakkad beach have increased from one nest in 1998-99 to 10 nests in 2017-18 (Sundaram et al., 2019), thanks to the efforts of Green Habitat, a local NGO dedicated to the conservation of turtles. Periodically, night patrols are conducted during the nesting season.

During a night patrol on 8th February 2019, we observed a dead female olive ridley turtle on Edakkazhiyur Beach. We returned the following morning after dawn, for closer inspection, and observed that the turtle had been badly injured with broken carapace and was starting to decompose (Figure 1). The turtle was about 60cm long in carapace length. The carcass was later buried in the beach.

It is not clear when the injury to the carapace occurred. If when the turtle was alive, it might have come near to the shore for nesting and in the process may have been hit by the propeller of a boat or trawler. The boat strike could also have occurred after the turtle had died of other unknown causes. Stranded turtles along the Kerala coast have been rarely reported, although it could be that more occur but have not been properly documented. There seems to be only four reports of stranding turtles along the Kerala coast, including Anil et al. (2009), who reported a dead stranded leatherback (Dermochelyscoriacea) in Vizhinjam and Baby (2012) who reported a dead stranded olive ridley turtle from Thrissur. Recently, Sreekumar et al. (2016) reported a dead stranded olive ridley turtle from Cherai beach and Saleem et al. (2019) reported a live injured olive ridley turtle from Thrissur. All the four instances of stranding were observed during the breeding season.
 
Date 2019
 
Type Article
NonPeerReviewed
 
Format text
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/14749/1/Indian%20Ocean%20Turtle%20Newsletter_2019_Sujit%20Sundaram_Stranded%20Olive%20Ridley%20Turtle%20on%20Edakkazhiyur%20Beach%2C%20Chavakkad%2C%20Kerala%2C%20India.pdf
James, N J and Saleem, Abdul and Sundaram, Sujit (2019) Stranded Olive Ridley Turtle on Edakkazhiyur Beach, Chavakkad, Kerala, India. Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter (30). pp. 11-13.