Save Olive Ridley
Sea Turtles
Olive Ridley Sea Turtles come and lay eggs at the same place, where they were born. Vedic literature terms the turtles as “kurmavatar”. We need your help to conserve Tonka Beach of Honavar, Karnataka, India as a hatchling site for future of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.
38
Adult Turtles
(Jan 24 till date)
100-150
Eggs Laid
by Each Adult
4000+
Expected Hatchlings
(This Year)
#Honavar
#SaveTonkaBeach
For Future Generations
49
Adult Turtles
(Dec 22 to Apr 23)
5000+
Hatchlings
(Dec 22 To Apr 23)
100X
Turtles in the Future
2000×100 = 2 Lakh
Support Us
Speak Out For
Voices Sea Turtles
About Olive Ridley Sea Turtles
The name for this sea turtle is tied to the color of its shell— an olive green hue. Their unique behaviour is that females return to the same beach from where they hatched, to lay their eggs.
The Olive Ridley Sea Turtles face serious threats across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities. These turtles are considered endangered because of their few remaining nesting sites in the world. Honavar, a small coastal town in Karnataka is one such nesting site for Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.
The Olive Ridely Sea Turtles come to the beaches of Honavar annually between November to March. The Olive Ridley Sea Turtles choose the Tonka beach near Sharavathi River Estuary. Each adult female Olive Ridley Sea Turtle lays hundreds of eggs at a time.
Originating in the vedic literature Kurma (Sanskrit: कूर्म; means ‘Turtle’, ‘Tortoise’), is also known to be second avatar of the Vishnu. Kurma prominently appears in the legend of the churning the Ocean of Milk, referred to as the Samudra Manthana.
We act together
As an active community
Local Fishermen
Nature Lovers
Environmentalists
Conservationalists
NGO’s
THE ISSUE
In 2021, National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai reported that no nest or turtles where found at Honavar. Olive Ridley Turtles have a nesting season to lay egg, which is generally between December to March. This survey was done during non-nesting season, poor turtles did not know that they had to come and lay eggs when the officers visit.
Even when scientifically its known that turtles lay egg on land, it was said in court that turtles laid eggs miles inside the sea and not on beach of Honavar!
Since the turtles do not have a voice, we the people need to raise our voice for them. When there is 100% possibility for us to save lives of 1000’s of baby turtles every year, we need to take conservation measures. Even a small action by you will count and if you are already here, do make it count!
LET US ALL TWEET TO PM MODIJI
Modiji is a wildlife lover. We have all seen Modiji on “Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls”. Modiji also brought back extinct Cheetahs from Namibia to India.
As they say “pen is mightier than the sword”. May be in the border word we could say “tweet is mightier than the sword”. Every tweet counts and may be there is a chance that Modiji will read the tweet with your name 🙂
We have even made it easier my pre-filling of the content to tweet. All you need to do is click the button below:
8 dead Olive Ridley Sea Turtles were found at Tonka beach in 2022. Even with its legal protections as schedule 1 species there was no FIR and no investigation.
Focus light is being put up at night in an attempt to avoid Olive Ridley Sea Turtles coming to the Tonka Beach of Honavar to lay eggs.
A road is being constructed by putting stone and mud on the sandy shore. Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are loosing their space to lay eggs, they need sand and cannot dig the stones.
GET RETURN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT from PM Office
Send Registered Post to Modiji
Did you know you can be 100% sure that someone from PM Modiji’s office will receive your letter?
You can send a registered post with return acknowledgment. You will be able to preserve it as a lifetime memory of your contribution to save the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles at Honavar.
You can use our sample letter content, customise, print and post it to:
Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister’s Office
South Block, Raisina Hill
New Delhi-110011
Visit Tonka Beach
Since the beginning of the campaign people have been asking us to facilitate visits to Tonka Beach. Honavar Foundation has now taken a new initiative named “Saturdays for the Sea“.
We will have staff/volunteers take visitors on a trek from Tonka Beach to Sharavathi Estuary at 4pm every Saturday from October to May. Its completely free but you will have to pickup plastic as a beach cleanup activity while coming back from the trek 🙂