Why in news? Mass mortality of Olive Ridley turtles in A.P. raises concerns.

Highlights

• Hundreds of vulnerable Olive Ridley turtles have washed ashore along the coastline between Kakinada and Antarvedi in the Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh during the ongoing annual breeding season on the east coast.
• The breeding grounds — Sakhinetipalli, Malikipuram, Mamidikuduru and Allavaram have been witnessing the mass mortality of the turtles over the past few weeks.
• The effluents being released from the aqua ponds along the coastline and the discharges from the pipelines of the onshore oil exploration facilities are blamed for the mass mortality of the turtles.

About Olive Ridley turtles

• It is also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle
• The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world
• They are found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Nesting grounds

• Mainly in the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large assemblies near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
• The coast of Odisha in India is one of the largest mass nesting sites for the olive ridley, along with the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica

Conservation

• It has been listed on Schedule – I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (amended 1991).
• The species is listed as vulnerable under IUCN.
• The sea turtles are protected under the ‘Migratory Species Convention’ and Convention of International Trade on Wildlife Flora and Fauna (CITES).