Pradeep Kumar Nath

Sea Turtle Protection project

LocationCountryCategoriesDate
VisakhapatnamIndiaCommunity, Indian Sub-continent, Marine, Turtles18 Dec 2007

Outreach programs are needed to demonstrate to the community members the importance of these animals, as well as to teach them the state laws designed to protect them. Visits by health professionals to provide dietary supplement this education. Educating trawlers operators about methods and devices which are less perilous to the animals will help prevent accidental deaths. Recruiting community members for this project offers them alternative sources of income to the ones which currently endanger the turtles. Monitoring and relocation of nests which are on beaches near concentrations of dogs, beachgoers, and construction is vital. Accordingly, construction of protected harbors and jetties will provide safe areas for the turtles to come ashore and lay eggs. Formation of additional research programs by government agencies and NGO's are planned to encourage cooperation and explore potential improvements to the program as it grows. The turtle breeding season is from October to June, so these activities will be most intense during that period. For the rest of the year, evolution, preparation of reports, and creation of any materials for the upcoming season will be carried out.

For more information contact info@visakhaspca.org or go to www.visakhaspca.org

Project Update: January 2008

More Olive Ridley turtles washed ashore

VISAKHAPATNAM: More and more Olive Ridley turtles, declared endangered under the Wildlife Protection Act, are being washed ashore near Thikkavanipalem beach in Parawada mandal in the district on Wednesday.
A team from Forest Department, led by an IFS officer, also visited the spot to take water samples for certain tests following allegations that several turtle carcases reached the shore due to ocean pollution caused by some industries in the nearby vicinity and non-use of turtle exclusion device (TED) by the trawlers.
Fishermen of the area had alleged that effluents discharged by NTPC Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant and another chemical unit located in the area could have been responsible for the large-scale death of turtles.
Visakha Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals president Pradeep Kumar Nath, who led a team of volunteers to Thikkavanipalem and nearby areas, said they had launched a survey of the status of turtles.
“We were shocked to see arrival of several dead turtles continuously,” he said on Wednesday.
Several turtles were getting killed due to failure of the authorities in enforcing the use of TED by trawlers and indiscriminate release of industrial effluents into the sea.
Pradeep Kumar Nath said they should conduct autopsy and chemical tests dead turtles immediately after they were found ashore and advised them not to take species, which were in a highly decomposed state.
The VSPCA has decided to survey the entire coastline from Thikkavanipalem and nearby areas up to Visakhapatnam to prepare an action plan for protecting the dwindling population of Olive Ridley turtles.

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