Rescued juvenile Olive Ridley released into the sea

A juvenile Olive Ridley turtle, which was found injured nearly a month ago, was released back into the sea on Sunday.

While injured adult turtles are found on the shore during the nesting season, there are few instances of juvenile turtles being found, treated and released into the sea. The turtle was kept in a small tank of seawater at the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary after it was rescued and treated for an injury it had sustained on its flipper. Officials from the Forest Department and volunteers from the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) had been monitoring its progress.

Building instincts

“We could keep the turtle only in seawater as we wanted her to build on her instincts. A few days ago, the turtle was taken to the backwaters in Kovalam and we let her swim in the water there which was about 5-6 feet in depth to see if she was ready to be released,” said Shravan Krishnan, who volunteers with SSTCN.

Forest Department officials released the turtle into the sea, around 5 km off Urur Kuppam. A volunteer who accompanied them said that while most fishermen are hesitant to keep turtles on their boats, the fisherfolk from Urur Kuppam came forward and took it in their boat into the sea.

This nesting season has seen a rise in the number of dead turtles found on the shore. “As recently as Saturday night, a large turtle was found dead between Neelankarai to Elliots Beach. Since January 1, we have found more than 285 dead turtles,” said Akhila Balu of SSTCN.

She said that this year, however, had recorded fairly even nesting with nests found all through February and March. While SSTCN has found around 230 nests so far, the Forest department has found over 130 nests. The Forest department has a team patrolling the coast to find nests and take them back to the hatcheries.