WILD CARD

NISHA JHA travels to Velas village

in Ratnagiri to see Olive Ridley
turtles hatch, lovingly supervised by
conservators. A perfect family
weekend out of Mumbai

Babys
day out
WE
were at an to the sea. And boy, they plopped out and glistened
unknown village to with the lustre of the sun, shiny and skidding,
see some new-borns unsteady in their hobble. They did not hold hands
take their first baby but headed to the sea, en masse, orienting
steps and swim out themselves with the horizon and daylight. The sea

EXOTICA [62] MARCH 2017


PHOTO: DA TRAVELOGRAPHY
currents got stronger, our heart jumped as
some of them got tousled and thrashed
around. Could we save them? But then these
were hatchlings of the Olive Ridley turtle, who
dont give up even if one in a 1,000 survives.
Beating the bigger fish, ghost crabs and seagulls,
they descended into the marine world,
unchaperoned yet united, untrained yet skilled, the
little crawling wonders.
This ritual happens during the months of
February, March and April in this otherwise
sleepy village of Velas in Ratnagiri district, south
of Mumbai.
A few years back a friend mentioned to us
about turtle conservation in this district on
the western coast of India. We would have
EXOTICA [63] MARCH 2017
pooh-poohed the information as rumour had it not
been for the stature of our friend. He was a wildlife
enthusiast, a naturalist and would definitely know
about these things. We had been reading for
sometime about the dwindling population of sea
turtles and one February evening, we decided to go
to Velas Village on the spur of the moment and
experience what is now known as the Kasav
Mahotsav meaning Turtle Festival.
Velas is a small eco-friendly village in Ratnagiri.
A few years ago, an NGO named Sahyadri Nisarga
Mitra, who were involved in conservation of
PHOTO: DNA INDIA
dwindling population of various animals, found out
that its beach was one of the many locations where
female turtles washed up to lay their eggs in flask-
shaped cavities and covered them up with sand,
laying it thick with their flippers. They also found
that while there was evidence of a large number of
nests, they could not find any eggs intact. They
were perhaps poached by villagers or animals. Also,
most of the hatchlings did not make it to the sea as
they fell to predators and villagers. The villagers
were educated on the importance of saving these
marine reptiles and thus was born the Kasav Mitra
Mandal. This was a win-win for them. They were
able to help conservationists and simultaneously
create a tourism opportunity to boost the economy
PHOTO: SAHIL'S NATURE BLOG
of this village.
BEACHCOMBING OF ANOTHER KIND
WE reached the village just in time for
breakfast. Most locals open their doors
to tourists for a nominal fee that includes all
meals. Though the homestay was rudimentary in
nature there were mattresses for sleeping,
separate rooms for men and women and a couple
of common bathrooms the warmth and
cleanliness turned simplicity into luxury. For
breakfast, we were served poha, the best beaten
rice we had had till then.
The chief conservationist told us how initially
the villagers did not listen or care about the new-
age hullaballoo about conservation and protection,
which they thought were just propaganda to
encroach on their daily lives. It took persistent
awareness drives and education to convince the
fishermen that there was more money to be made
in preserving the rare creatures and multiplying
their numbers than catching them for human
consumption. Now the same fishermen release the
turtles if they are inadvertently caught in their net.
They are also trained to inform the NGO if they
spot any injured turtle which are then nursed back
to health and returned to the sea.
On the beach, we learnt a lesson in survival.
The female Olive Ridley turtles travel thousands of
kilometres every year to lay their eggs at a massive
nesting ground on the beach in a synchronised
manner. They believe theres safety in numbers.
The turtles scoop the soft sand to a depth of 45 cm
with the help of their flippers and release 100 to
180 eggs. Before scampering on to the beach, they
survey the nesting ground from the sea and in case
they smell danger, they search for a safer breeding
ground. The urge to release the egg is so intense
GETTING THERE
Several touring companies conduct a three-day
trip to Velas from Mumbai and Pune. One
can go in a private vehicle as well.
ACCOMMODATION
Almost every house is a homestay. One can
walk in and negotiate. Weekends are
always crowded.
PHOTO: AURABH THAKEKAR
that they spawn at night, breathing in the
southernly wind with a loud hiss to ramp up their
oxygen and energy levels. The period of emergence
and retreat into the sea after nesting takes 45 to 55
minutes. The most incredible part? Each female
turtle always returns to the same beach at which it
had hatched. It has a mystic memory! On the
contrary, male turtles almost always never return
to the beach at all.
covered each hole with a basket and a card
mentioning the nest number. This exercise is done
for each of the nests found till the nesting season is
over. After that, is the long wait for incubation.
We returned in the evening to a site which had
long been in incubation. We waited for the
temperature to drop so that it was cool enough for
the young ones to come out. For tourists, the turtle
festival begins when the incubation period of 45 to

SAFE IN THE INCUBATOR

EVERY morning during nesting

season, volunteers from
Kasav Mitra Mandal comb the beach for signs of
turtle movement on the sand. Generally, you cant
miss the tracks as the turtles are almost 70 cm in
length and weigh about 25 to 50 kg and leave deep
trails. Quite heavy we thought but our
conservationist laughed, By the way they are some
of the smallest turtles. The volunteers followed the
tracks to their end and started digging with great
care so as not to break any eggs. Sometimes the
tracks are false indicators. Some turtles are known
to return without laying eggs or move to another
PHOTO: JAYESH PARANJAPE

spot on the beach. If eggs are found, then details

are recorded with date, nest number and number
of eggs. Our team found some eggs, collected them
in baskets and took them to a fenced off burrow in
the beach to prevent predators. After depositing the
eggs in a series of holes dug for the purpose, they
filled them with sand just like the mother turtle and

EXOTICA [65] MARCH 2017


60 days is over. Each day the volunteers uncover
the baskets to see if any hatchling has surfaced. It
is yet another natures wonder that buried deep
into the ground, when the turtle babies hatch they
know instinctively to claw their way up
overcoming the weight of the sand above. The
walls of the pit gradually collapse, thereby allowing
the eggs on the lower strata to rise upwards.
THE DESCENT INTO SEA
TURTLE experts were dutifully
making sure the
viewers would be safe and not scramble over each
other. We were glad to see a sizeable number of
children in the crowd waiting to see the babies.
This was a great family outing too, away from the
bustle of the city.
They uncovered the first basket...no response
or movement...there was an audible sound of
disappointment in the crowd. Perhaps the time
had not come for the eggs of this nest to hatch.
They covered the nest and opened the second. No
response. By now we were sure the organisers
were playing to the gallery and building up a
dramatic pitch and that the last basket would have
the babies.
And there they were, a clatter of shells, writhing
EXOTICA [66] MARCH 2017
PHOTOS: VASUDEVAN R
and jostling for freedom. We soft-padded to the
seashore as the volunteers carried the unsteady
hatchlings to about 70 metres from the breakers, sat
them down and left them to fend for themselves.
The hatchlings were delicately tiny, just 10 cm or so,
but knew exactly what they should do. And in a
collective uprising of genetic memory, they
intuitively used their flippers, ploppy flaps really, to
propel them towards the gigantic sea. For us even
the thought how these babies would survive in the
vast sea brought goose pimples. We could see them
getting tired once in a while as they slopped on the
sand and got caught in the tangle of weeds and surf.
But then they had to honour the motherly spirit of
determination. And so they started once again,
uncurling and stretching but bobbing bravely on
into the sea. The water engulfed them eventually.
The females would definitely come around
sometime and the whole lifecycle continues.
On our return journey, we asked our guide why
these gentle beings were called the stately Olive
Ridleys? The carapace (shell) of an adult turtle is
olive green in colour. Even the plastron (the
underside of the turtle) is green-yellow. But
nobody really knows why its called a Ridley, he
told us smiling. We liked his honesty and
forthrightness. Thats a riddle for another day.