Overview

• An Olive Ridley turtle tagged at Odisha's Gahirmatha beach traveled 1,000 kilometers in 51 days to reach the Andhra Pradesh coast, confirmed by satellite data from the Wildlife Institute of India.
• The turtle navigated through the coastal waters of Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry before arriving in Andhra Pradesh, showcasing its remarkable migratory capability.
• Gahirmatha beach, the world’s largest known Olive Ridley nesting ground, along with Rushikulya and Devi river mouths, are key sites for mass nesting events in Odisha.
• Since the revival of the tagging program by the Zoological Survey of India in 2021, approximately 12,000 turtles have been tagged, but experts advocate tagging 100,000 turtles for comprehensive conservation data.
• A similar tagging effort previously documented a turtle traveling over 3,500 kilometers to nest in Maharashtra, highlighting the need for expanded research on migratory routes and reproductive behaviors.