Life in the oceans is getting harder by the year for nearly every species of sea turtle. There are seven species of sea turtle and, according to the World Wildlife Federation, nearly all of them are endangered. Three are considered critically endangered. [1]

Their primary threats are various forms of exploitation, like being hunted for their meat, skin, and shells, as well as the poaching of their eggs. Additionally, coastal losses due to climate change destroy sea turtle nesting sites, making it difficult or impossible for the turtles to reproduce.

But if you’re a sea turtle, there’s a bit of good news on the horizon for you. The endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have returned once again to Odisha’s Rushikulya hatchery in India, where they dig their nests and lay their eggs.

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Last year, the turtles did not return to the hatchery due to a cyclone ravaging their nesting sites, but this year, according to the Forest Department, a total of 70,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles returned to the Odisha shoreline to lay their eggs. Each nesting turtle will lay an average of 100 eggs. Also benefitting the turtles was a nationwide 21-day lockdown in response to coronavirus, which allowed the sea turtles to be mostly undisturbed while they nested [2].

Each year, the Forest Department designates hatcheries for the Olive Ridley turtles along the Indian coast, areas where they can safely nest and lay their eggs. 50% of the species of sea turtle nests on Odisha’s coastline according to the Odisha Wildlife Organization. The Forest Department then releases the baby sea turtles into the sea in order to maximize the number of surviving turtles.

In 2019, Cyclone Titli interrupted the nesting and egg-laying cycle for the turtles, rendering them unable to reproduce at normal levels.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, IUCN Red List for short, the Olive Ridley sea turtle is considered vulnerable. [3] A species is classified as vulnerable when a population decline is measurable, making it more likely for the species to become endangered unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival improve.

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Olive Ridley turtles are fairly large, growing as large as two feet in length and weighing up to fifty kilograms. They are primarily threatened by fishing boats which accidentally destroy hatchlings as they swim out to sea. The Forest Department has sought to prevent these deaths by using two trawlers to monitor sea turtle movement in the oceans and direct fishing boats away from the vulnerable species.

In 2019, nature provided a perfect storm to prevent them from nesting and laying their eggs, but in 2020, an entirely different perfect storm has made it possible for them to nest and massive numbers. The state cleared the hatchery sites of debris from 2019’s cyclone and, thanks to coronavirus lockdowns in India, the beaches were mostly deserted.

A single Olive Ridley sea turtle will lay a clutch of approximately 100 eggs before swimming out to sea.

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