Sindhudurg: Satellite tagged turtles left in Lakshadweep sea… | leader

Malvan; Leading News Service: Bageshree, one of the two turtles tagged by satellite in the second phase of the turtle conservation campaign, is now heading east to Sri Lanka. It is now about 150 km from Colombo. The cave tortoise has moved about 250 km south in the last ten days. Now it is 25 km from Kadmat Island in Lakshadweep.

Two more olive ridley turtles were tagged via satellite at Guhagar beach in Ratnagiri in the last week of February under a joint project of Mangrove Foundation, Maharashtra Forest Department and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Ratnagiri Division. The tortoises, both female, have been named Bageshree and Guha.

The project is part of a research program to monitor turtle movements and track their journeys to and from nesting sites. Last year five female turtles lost transmitters attached to them, prompting the Mangrove Foundation and WI to satellite tag two turtles this year.

Of the two satellite-tagged turtles, Bageshree, crossed the Kerala coast and moved further south. That turtle has moved into the continental shelf waters there. And it is now heading towards Sri Lanka. Bageshree is consistently on track. While the second turtle cave is now seen slowly making its way. Leaving the Arabian Sea behind and entering the Lakshadweep Sea. Her pace had slowed somewhat in the past month. Now it is heading south.

This study will reveal how the Olive Ridley turtles, which come to the Konkan coast every year to lay their eggs during the breeding season, travel throughout the year and where they come from. Due to this, the project has attracted the attention of all turtle lovers and researchers.

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