RETURN OF THE OLIVE RIDLEYS

First came the shock and dis-may—throughout January, the discovery of hundreds of carcasses of Olive Ridley turtles on the beaches in and around Chennai raised the hackles of wildlife conservationists.

- By Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

Then, from mid-February and through March, emerged a remarkable silver lining: the Rushikulya beach in Odisha’s Ganjam district witnessed an unprecedented mass nesting event, with close to 700,000 turtles laying eggs. This astonishing spectacle comes after the site saw no nesting at all last year, making it a moment of triumph for conservationists. Redemption, it seemed, had arrived further up the coast.

Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are the most abundant of all sea turtles and they inhabit the warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Olive Ridleys travel 9,000 km from the Pacific Ocean, as well as shorter distances from the Indian Ocean, to breed and nest on select Indian beaches in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, which is home to the two mass-nesting beaches for them. Olive Ridleys are a fundamental link in marine ecosystems by regulating populations of organisms like jellyfish and helping maintain coral reefs. But they face numerous threats, including the mass harvesting of eggs, poaching and unintended capture in fishing nets, leading to injuries or drowning.

As thousands of these marine reptiles crawled ashore beneath the moonlit sky—and, defying age-old practice, during daylight hours as well—locals and conservationists stood spellbound. This extraordinary phenomenon, known as ‘arribada’ (Spanish for ‘arrival’), has surpassed previous records. The sheer scale of this nesting event stands as a testament to years of painstaking conservation efforts, yet the very rarity of this moment of success underscores the ongoing challenges posed by climate change and habitat disruption.