Olive Ridleys, Tata, and Ratan’s Turtles

Hi,

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified ‘Olive Ridley Turtles’ as vulnerable to extinction (although some sites claim that they are classified as endangered.

These turtles are found in very few spots around the world (click here to see the WWF map showing their habitats), and Gahirmatha is the world’s largest nesting ground for these poor amphibians.

The turtles lay eggs during April and May every year, and till recently no body seemed to care for them.

Now however there are a few efforts to help the olive ridley turtles.

In February last year, Tata Steel and L&T Ltd decided to build “an all-weather deep port at a location north of the mouth of river Dhamra in Orissa”and that was when all the action started. The project called the Dharma Port project, is apparently a long overdue plan, first started in 1998, but halted due to various problems.

Soon after the port project was announced, an MP requested that the test firing of missiles (that takes place every year during April and May at Gahirmatha), be stopped. The DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) however claimed that missile testing isn’t any deterrent at all to turtle nesting (I agree with you they are slightly eccentric)

Now there are two possible reasons why turtles don’t come and lay eggs at their favorite spots.

1. This is a very famous hypothesis, though it hasn’t been scientifically established yet – lights. Bright lights, say some scientists drive away turtles.

2. People eat the poor turtles and their eggs.

It is illegal to kill turtles and eat them, we all know that. Lots of trawlers (big ships that catch fish) however have not installed “Turtle Excluding Devices” in their nets (apparently they think that their catch is reduced by installing these devices, although WWF authorities claim that it doesn’t)

Okay so what happened next? Next big new about the turtles was that the Orissa State government banned fishing for a six month period.

The thing about the turtles that really intrigued me was that they lay eggs in hordes. Thousands of them come at the same time and lay their eggs together (scientists claim that these are their strengths as a struggling species).

The third very interesting thing is that Greenpeace got involved, and the issue took huge proportions. Greenpeace activists started dressing up as turtles, sent an email petition signed by many people to Ratan Tata, and carried out other means of peaceful protest.

In reply to all this, the company officials said that the port would not in anyway disturb the turtles

Yes, the turtle friends replied to this too, saying the panel’s decision was all messed up.

What most people don’t know is that the entire project itself might be a little jinxed.

It seems the International Sea Port’s consortium, does not like the pace at which the papers are being moved at Orissa, and might decide to pull out of the project. If this happens, the entire project may be stopped

Hmmm, seems like Ratan Tata alone is not responsible for the project – but he is the face of the project and should do something.

If you’d like to send an email asking Ratan Tata to change the location of the Dharma Port,click here

update: Tata is holding talks with Greenpeace now!

Cheers,
Kaber

P.S: If you liked this essay, read these also