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BHUBANESWAR: A drastic change in the profile of the beaches where the Olive Ridley turtles nest has forced the endangered amphibians to stay away from Orissa coast this season. If the sand bars at the two ends of Long Wheeler Island have shrunk further, the Rushikulya mouth too has witnessed massive depressions.
Reasons enough to keep the Olive Ridleys away? Appears so. This season, only 1.45 lakh turtles have nested along the Orissa coast. All the nesting has been recorded at Wheeler Island while Rushikulya has not seen any yet. Nor has the Devi river mouth.
The turtles spend a considerable time in the marine waters from October to May. Nesting, however, starts taking place by the end of February. With March in its middle, there is still time for a second nesting at Gahirmatha but the wildlife experts are anxious.
Last year, about 4.10 lakh Olive Ridleys had nested along Orissa coast, 2.74 lakh of which laid eggs at Gahirmatha alone. But this time the signs are not encouraging.
It is pretty much evident that the beaches have undergone drastic changes at Gahrimatha and Rushikulya and this could be the reason why mass nesting has been limited but we are hopeful of a second nesting since there is still time.
Last year, nesting had occurred as late as April, said SC Mohanty, Chief Wildlife Warden of Orissa. In fact, a group of geologists are already studying the change in beach profile besides a team from the Ministry of Ocean Development which is carrying out research on the similar subject.
According to official sources, the two long ends of Wheeler Islands have shrunk so much that the turtles are virtually left with no space to nest.
Going by official records, the southern end of the island measured about 700 metre in 2005, while the northern end was about 1700 metre in length.
In the subsequent year, the length reduced. The southern stretch shrunk to about 600 metre and the northern to 1100 metre.
This year, it has further reduced to 500 metres and 600 metres respectively. In last three years, the long-ends have shrunk by about 1.5 km which is very significant, said a senior official of the Forest Department.
Similarly, the beach at Rushikulya has witnessed pond-sized depressions between Gokharakuda and Kantiagada. This is the stretch which gave a favourable nesting ground to the turtles in the past but no more. The depressions meant that the topography changed along with humidity and temperature levels.
Says Mohanty, "We are aware of the change in beach profile but these are natural process and are being studied. In fact, the change in the beach profile is absolutely in sync with the process of coastal erosion that India is witnessing".
A study by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, last year had warned that coastal erosion was high in Kerala and Orissa besides Maharashtra and Karnataka. Of the 569.7-km-long coast of Kerala, 480 km is affected by erosion, while in Orissa 107 km out of its 476.4 km coast is eroding.
The study had indicated that sediment transport along East coast of the country is towards North, whereas along the West Coast it is mostly towards the South.
Significantly, gross sediment transport rate is high along Kerala as well as South Orissa coasts. Discharge of sediments, through the Indian rivers, into the sea is estimated at 1,200,000 kg/year.
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