OLIVE RIDLEY

The 'Olive Ridley' (''Lepidochelys olivacea'') is one of the smallest species of sea turtle. It is named for the olive color of its heart-shaped shell.

Contents

Anatomy and morphology

Distribution

Ecology and life history

Conservation

Threats

Note

Bibliography

References

See also

External links

Anatomy and morphology

These lightly-built turtles have an average weight just over 100 lb (up to 50 kg.). They have a high-domed shell, with a carapace length of only 27 inches (70 cm). The carapace is made up of five pairs of costal scutes, with occurrences of up to 6 to 9 divisions per side. The margins are smooth. The carapace is a dark olive green in color with a yellowish underside. The head is large.

Distribution

It is usually found in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic ocean. The common name in Spanish is tortuga golfina o del golfo.
The beaches of Orissa, India provide one of the last nesting grounds of the Olive Ridley turtles in the world. In addition, trawling and offshore drilling for oil and gas has been blamed for the death of more than 100,000 Olive Ridley turtles, which have washed ashore in the last ten years.
Though listed by the US Endangered Species Act, populations in the Atlantic Ocean continue to dwindle, while the populations found in areas around the Pacific Ocean seem to be on the rise. Furthermore, their ability to reproduce in the Red Sea was thought impossible, however, recent evidence suggests that they do indeed hatch in Eritrea amongst other places in the Red Sea.^[1][2]
In the Indian Ocean, a major nesting ground for the species can be found in the Indian state of Orissa. Beaches in Devi, Gahirmatha and Rushikulya are known nesting sites for the ''L. olivacea'' Indian Ocean population. In 2007, around 130,000 turtles nested on the beaches of Gahirmatha.^[3]

Ecology and life history

Olive Ridleys are omnivorous, feeding on crabs, shrimp, rock lobsters, sea grasses, algae, snails, fish, sessile, pelagic tunocates and small invertebrates. They are sometimes seen feeding on jellyfish in shallow waters. These turtles forage offshore in surface waters and can dive to depths of at least 150 meters (500 feet).

Conservation

Threats

Commercial trawling has been shown to disrupt and kill Olive Ridleys in India. The turtles are caught in the trawler's nets being dragged far behind the boats. Unable to surface, the turtles suffocate and drown. Some other threats are the poaching of turtle eggs, construction on beaches, and pollution. Mega ports being built by Tata Steel, POSCO and other companies as well as oil exploration activities offshore pose serious long term threats to the species along the Orissa coast, India.

Note

The threat perception to turtle habitat with regard to the TATA Steel port (Dhamra port) has to be seen in light of research studies which show that the port site is not frequented by nesting turtles. The port project has got the due environmental clearances from the central govt of India. In addition the threat perception from this port was further scrutinized in the year 2000 by the 'National Environment Appellate Authority', mandated specifically to examine environmental clearances, who upheld the environment clearance to the proposed port. The port is fully committed to the cause of the environment and are associating with the best wildlife conservation organization to safe guard the interests of wildlife and wildlife habitat. Further this is not a TATA Steel port but actually an infrastructure project which is being built by the dhamra port company ltd (Special Purpose Vehicle), this port would eventually subvert to the State govt which will own the port.

Bibliography

★ Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is endangered

References

1. An Update on Eritrea’s Marine Turtle Programme and First Record of Olive Ridley Turtle Nesting in the Red Sea, , Nicolas, Pilcher, Marine Turtle Newsletter,
2. The Eritrean Turtle Team Finds Hatched ‘Oliver idly’ in Rastarma
3. Trawling, industry threaten India turtle nesting Simon Denyer

See also

★ ''Chelonioidea''. The sea turtle superfamily.

★ ''Caretta caretta''. The loggerhead turtle.

★ ''Chelonia mydas''. The green turtle.

★ ''Dermochelys coriacea''. The leatherback turtle.

★ ''Eretmochelys imbricata''. The hawksbill turtle.

★ ''Lepidochelys kempii''. The Kemp's Ridley turtle.

★ ''Natator depressus''. The flatback turtle.

External links

★ http://home.earthlink.net/~itec5/Testudinata/Lepidochelys_olivacea.html

★ http://www.orf.org/turtles_oliveridley.html

★ Olive Ridley

★ Greenpeace India fight to save one of the last remaining nesting grounds of the Olive Ridley