OLIVE RIDLEYS

March 23, 2020

In a rare sight after a gap of seven years, mass nesting of olive ridley turtles was witnessed during the daytime along the Rushikulya rookery coast in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

About:

Scientific Name: Lepidochelys olivacea.
Common name: Olive Ridley, Pacific Ridley.
Habitat: They inhabit warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. These turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean, and migrate thousands of kilometres between feeding and mating grounds in the course of a year.
Arribada: These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada. i.e. thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the Olive-ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
Usually, olive ridleys prefer to nest in darkness. Sometimes due to pressure of delivery time, they may be opting to nest at daytime.
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable.