Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

Why in news : The mass nesting of the olive ridley sea turtles which is called as ARRIBADA has begun on the gahirmata beach.

Key points related to olive ridley sea turtles :

• The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle.
• The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
• They are found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
• This turtle and the related Kemp’s ridley turtle are best known for their unique synchronised mass nestings called
• ARRIBADA is a process where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.

DISTRIBUTION :

IN WORLD :

The olive ridley turtle has a circumtropical distribution, living in tropical and warm waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans from India, Arabia, Japan, and Micronesia south to southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

IN INDIA :

In the Indian Ocean, three arribada beaches occur in Odisha, India (Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth, and Rushikulya) with an estimated +100,000 nests per year.

More recently, a new mass nesting site was discovered in the Andaman Islands, India, with more than 5,000 nests reported in a season.

DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE IN WORLD :

DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE IN INDIA :

• Conservation status :
  • IUCN status : vulnerable
  • Wildlife protection act : schedule-I.
• THREATS :
  1. Marine pollution and related waste.
  2. Plastic waste from landfills.
  3. Oilspills and related pollution.
  4. Poaching for their skin and shells.
  5. Over exploitation of marine resources.
  6. Wrong fishing practices.

SYLLABUS : PRELIMS, ENVIRONMENT-SPECIES.