Olive Ridley Turtles Arrive At Odisha Coast For Mass Nesting.

Why in news?

• 2022 arribada (mass-nesting phenomenon) is the most delayed mass nesting recorded in Gahirmatha.
• Gahirmatha (Odisha) is the world’s largest rookery of olive ridley’s followed by Rushikulya.
• Olive Ridley turtles di g holes on the beach at night time creating a cavity. They lay 40-50 eggs in each hole and cover it again with sand. Before sunrise, the turtles return to the sea, leaving behind the eggs, which hatch after 40-60 days.

About Olive Ridley

• It gets its name from the olive green color of its heart-shaped shell.
• Found primarily in the warm tropical regions of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans.
• Threats: Accidental killing through entanglement in trawl nets; extensively poached for their meat, shell and leather; warmer sea surface temperatures etc.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable.
• Protection: Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, CITES Appendix I.
• Government Initiatives
• Operation Save Kurma by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
• Odisha government has made it mandatory for trawls to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs).
• Operation Oliva exercise to ensure the safe mid-sea sojourn of breeding Olive Ridley sea.