Olive Ridley turtles hatch on Versova beach after 20 years
the first time in 20 years, at least 80 baby Olive Ridley turtles were spotted at Versova beach on Thursday, making their way to the sea.
Morning walkers and beach clean-up crusaders were pleasantly surprised when they went to Versova beach and spotted the newly hatched turtles waddling into the sea. The hatchlings were first spotted by beach clean-up crusader Afroz Shah and his team at around 9.30am.
Olive Ridleys are sea turtles found in the warm tropical currents of the Indian and Pacific oceans. An endangered species, they travel thousands of kilometres, with females returning to their original nesting sites within a minimum of two years to lay eggs.
Both marine experts and officials from the state mangrove cell said this is the first time in two decades that hatchings have been reported on a Mumbai beach.
Shaunka Modi from Marine Life, a group promoting marine life welfare, said: “We counted 80 individuals, saw that they were healthy, and removed all obstacles in their path as they moved toward the sea. We kept birds and dogs away from the site. All 80 successfully entered the sea.”
Residents believe the turtles have come back because the beach is clean. “It was a delightful sight to see our clean-up efforts bear fruits, as turtles have made their home at Versova beach, probably the only beach in Mumbai where they are present,” Shah said.
Over a period of 126 weeks, Shah and other members of Versova Residents Volunteers (VRV) have removed 13 million kg of plastic and other garbage from what was till then the dirtiest beach in the city.
“Such an incident has happened after 20 years. The presence of more turtle nesting sites cannot be ruled out,” said Prashant Deshmukh, range forest officer, Mumbai mangrove conservation unit of the state mangrove cell.
“There were reports of turtle nesting near the private beach at the governor’s bungalow, but we have never heard of something like this ... This is a historical documentation for Mumbai, and citizens like Afroz Shah should be proud that they ensured the beach is clean enough ...” said Vinay Deshmukh, marine biologist and former chief scientist,CMFRI.