Tracking the nearshore and migratory movement of Olive Ridley sea turtles occurring in the coastal waters of Maharashtra

Abstract

This tracking study has been successful in creating awareness about olive ridley sea turtles through extensive media coverage on tagging and movement updates. Even with a small number of tagged turtles, it also provided crucial information on the movement and diving ecology of this lesser-studied population. Most importantly, the patterns of movement from this study suggests that turtles nesting on the Maharashtra coast comprise two foraging populations. Firstly, those that are resident to the Arabian Sea and the others from the Sri Lankan waters or from the Bay of Bengal. Further tracking efforts are recommended where the turtles are tagged early in the nesting season to understand their inter-rookery movements and find nesting frequencies per season. More tracking efforts from Maharashtra and elsewhere along the West coast of India are suggested to be taken up. This will help understand how the turtles from different nesting areas move and forage. Moreover, this will help identify the overlap between fishing zones and critical breeding and foraging areas along the West Coast to better manage and conserve the species through appropriate interventions.