Indian Ocean

Conservation of Sea Turtles with Special Reference to India.

Like my talk, this article falls into two parts – firstly how my involvement with sea turtles began and the Australian conservation successes which led from it, and secondly my involvement in olive ridleys in India and the huge upsurge in interest and work on sea turtles in India that has resulted. My involvement with sea turtles started in December 1963.

13 September 2018

First Nesting Record of Leatherback Sea Turtles on the West Coast of Galathea bay, Great Nicobar Island, after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami with Notes on Nest Predation

The west coast of Galathea Bay, Great Nicobar Island, was previously a significant nesting site for leatherback turtles despite pressure from anthropogenic activities and natural predators. The nesting population has the potential to recover from disturbance resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, as human all settlements have gone and the region is, therefore, free of anthropogenic predation and light pollution which might affect nesting turtles. However, there is still predation of turtle nests by Nicobari pigs.

13 September 2018

Nesting Ecology and Reproductive Biology of the Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, at Kish Island, Persian Gulf

The ecology and reproductive biology of the hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata were studied in Kish Island, Persian Gulf. The studied parameters include: environmental factors such as air temperature and humidity, soil types in different habitats during the breeding season; parameters related to the females' body and hatchlings biometrics i.e. weight, curved carapace length (CCL), straight carapace length (SCL), curved carapace width (CCW) and straight carapace width (SCW); and parameters related to reproductive biology, i.e.

14 September 2018

Fisheries Impact on Breeding of Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) Along the Gahirmatha coast, Bay of Bengal, Odisha, India

In India, the Gahirmatha coast is among the most important nesting grounds of olive ridley turtles, Lepidochelys olivacea. The coastal waters of Odisha are also subjected to heavy commercial fishing activities, leading to turtle-fisheries conflicts. This study was carried out to quantify the effects of fishing on breeding turtles. Data on stranded, dead turtles were collected during three breeding seasons (2007–08, 2008–09 and 2009–10) between November and April along a 35 km stretch. A total of 13,443 dead olive ridleys were counted (2008–09: n=9502, 2007–08: n=2754, 2009–10: n=1187).

13 September 2018

Consequence of Cyclonic Storm Phailin on Coastal Morphology of Rushikulya Estuary: an Arribada Site of Vulnerable Olive Ridley Sea Turtles Along the East Coast of India.

Current study emphasizes on recent very severe cyclonic storm Phailin of category -5 hurricane has caused significant morphologic changes in Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting ground in estuarine region of Rushikulya, east coast of India. In the present study, we have used Remote Sensing and GIS tools for investigating and quantifying the morphologic changes especially the sand spit of the study domain. Sequential satellite data (Geoeye & Landsat-8) pertaining to the period 2003 to 2014 were used in the current study.

15 July 2019

Marine Turtle Mortalities Along the Tamil Nadu Coast of India and the Need for Turtle-Friendly Fisheries

In the past two decades, sea turtle mortality has increased due to a variety of anthropogenic activities along the Nagapattinam and Chennai coast region in Tamil Nadu, South India. Weekly field surveys were conducted over an eight-month period from December 2013 to July 2014 to monitor the mortality of turtles in these coastal areas, revealing a notable disruption in the nesting activity of the turtles during January–March; the worst affected were mature individuals.

14 September 2018

Stomach Contents of Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys Olivacea) Occurring in Gahirmatha, Odisha Coast of India

Stomach contents of olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) occurring along the Gahirmatha coast of Odisha, India have been studied between October 2008 and May 2010. We obtained 76 stomach contents from olive ridley turtles that were stranded freshly, of which 12 were males and 64 were females. Among food items, molluscs dominated with 34.5 % in volume while crustaceans were next in order of volume (27.6 %). Occurrence of fish and other invertebrate and algae fragments though were less in amount have been noted almost in all specimens.

14 September 2018

Long-Term Monitoring of Green Turtle Nesting on Tromelin Island Demonstrates Stable Reproduction and Population Parameters

Situated about 500 km off the Malagasy east coast, the island of Tromelin is a key nesting site for the endangered green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in the south Western Indian Ocean. Nesting turtles found in this isolated island have been closely monitored since the 1970s, but the most recent estimates of nesting parameters date from 1986.

14 September 2018

Global analysis of the effect of local climate on the hatchling output of leatherback turtles. Scientific reports

The most recent climate change projections show a global increase in temperatures along with precipitation changes throughout the 21st century. However, regional projections do not always match global projections and species with global distributions may exhibit varying regional susceptibility to climate change. Here we show the effect of local climatic conditions on the hatchling output of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) at four nesting sites encompassing the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. We found a heterogeneous effect of climate.

13 September 2018

Efficient Multi-Species Conservation and Management Are Not Always Field-Effective: The Status and Future of Western Indian Ocean Leatherbacks.

Threatened species are dependent on conservation, with strategic approaches underpinned by the principle of complementarity to find efficient solutions. But are paper-efficient designs always field-effective? After 51 years of monitoring a 56-km-long overlap of two turtle rookeries, there are contrasting population-recovery trends: Vulnerable loggerhead abundance is increasing; and Critically Endangered leatherback abundance is remaining constant, despite leatherback individuals having a higher reproductive output.

13 September 2018