4 months ago
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In a first-of-its-kind initiative, an Olive Ridley oversea turtle that came ashore to nest connected the metropolis formation was satellite-tagged and released backmost into the oversea aboriginal Thursday (January 8, 2026) greeting arsenic portion of a vigor telemetry study.
The two-year study, scheduled to tally from 2025 to 2027, aims to fortify conservation efforts by utilizing telemetry exertion to show turtle behaviour, nesting patterns, and interactions with sportfishing activities.
According to a Government Order (G.O.) issued successful August 2025 by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary to the Departments of Environment, Climate Change, and Forests, the survey volition deploy outer tags connected 20 Olive Ridley turtles crossed cardinal and susceptible nesting sites successful Tamil Nadu, including the Chennai seashore and the Cauvery delta.
The tags volition alteration researchers to way the turtles’ movements successful near-shore waters during the nesting play from November to April. In summation to outer tagging, flipper tags volition beryllium utilized to people idiosyncratic turtles for semipermanent monitoring of nest-site fidelity and migration patterns.
The survey is being carried retired jointly by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation, Vandalur (AIWC).
The turtle tagged connected the time of the motorboat was a pistillate that came ashore to nest astatine the Besant Nagar hatchery. Weighing astir 40 kg, it appears to person nested for the archetypal clip and laid a ample clutch of implicit 130 eggs. Based connected observations, the turtle is estimated to beryllium betwixt 25 and 30 years old, according to officials.
Mapping routes
The telemetry survey aims to make information connected Olive Ridley turtles’ migratory routes, foraging grounds, and nesting behaviour, which volition assistance pass aboriginal conservation policies. It volition besides assistance successful identifying high-conservation-value zones wherever sportfishing activities whitethorn request to beryllium regulated to trim turtle bycatch, said Ms. Sahu.
Ms. Sahu noted outer information would beryllium transmitted each hour, which volition alteration continuous tracking of the tagged turtle.
