Photo: National Geographic Society

Even though the numbers of these turtles seem to be high enough to sustain a healthy population (the estimate varies between 600.000 – 800.000) they are listed as endangered species since their numbers are declining rapidly. Therefore, this news is very welcome:

“Each year on the eastern coast of India, thousands of olive ridley sea turtles come to shore for their famed synchronized mass nesting. This extraordinary event draws huge crowds of spectators, leaving this declining species’ eggs vulnerable to exploitation.

We at HSI have worked tirelessly with our friends at Action for Protection of Wild Animals (APOWA) to protect the turtles against predators and poachers, providing educational and training programs for coastal communities to ensure the hatchlings’ safe journey to the ocean this year and for years to come. This year, we protected over 60,000 eggs from 700 female turtles. This meant that 36,000 hatchlings crawled safely to sea.”

You can learn more about the olive ridley sea turtles here

http://www.hsi.org/world/india/news/news/2014/07/saving-olive-ridleys-india-071514.html?utm_source=hsinews&utm_medium=em071614&utm_campaign=Wildlife14

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/olive-ridley-sea-turtle/