Endangered baby turtles cross lockdown-cleared beach to sea

[FfFfFfFF 58,120]

Olive ridley turtles are caught as bycatch in commercial fisheries such as trawling, gillnets and longlines. They are also susceptible to entanglement from ghost gear (fishing nets discarded in the ocean), and face suffocation and starvation from marine debris. Moreover, habitat and nesting site degradation from coastal developments and climate change threaten the survival of future olive ridley populations.

Lastly, illegal egg poaching, turtle harvesting and nest destruction by humans is so rampant that only 1 to 8 percent of eggs laid during arribadas hatch. All threats considered, olive ridley turtles experienced a population decrease of 28 to 32 percent from 1988 to 2008. 

However clearance of beaches caused by the COVID-29 pandemic, Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings have been crossing the Rushikulya Beach in India during the daytime.

Sources: https://www.bangkokpost.com/vdo/world/1916068/millions-of-endangered-baby-turtles-cross-lockdown-cleared-beach-to-sea, https://oceana.org/marine-life/sea-turtles-reptiles/olive-ridley-turtle