Breeding Biology of Olive Ridley Sea Turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea (eschcholtz, 1829) along the Poompuhar Coast, Tamilnadu, South India

Abstract

The Olive Ridleys is the most common marine turtle found in Indian waters, and is distributed on both east and west coasts including the offshore island s. Most of the ecological works on the Olive Ridleys in India have been carried out in mass nesting beaches of Orissa. This species nests sporadically all over India, but barring a anecdotal notes, information on the ecology of this species is scanty in sporadic nesting areas. Hence, the present study was carried out to, (1) Understand the nesting habitats of Olive Ridleys along the (Poompuhar) Tranquebar- Pazhaiyar coast (2) Study the breeding biology of Olive Ridleys including offshore activities along the southeast coast. Bay of Bengal (3) Study the mortality and other anthropogenic pressure on marine turtles along the Tranquebar- Pazhaiyar coast, and (4) Conservation of Olive Ridleys along the southeast coast, Bay of Bengal. The present study was conducted along the Poompuhar coast (51 km), Bay of Bengal, Tamil Nadu from November 2004 to May 2010. Fishing and agriculture are major occupations of the local inhabitants.