Turtles’ nestling places in danger

Olive Ridleys have already become extinct, while green turtles face survival threat

KARACHI:

Increasing construction on the city’s beaches is threatening the nesting site of green turtles as female turtles are forced to lay eggs on densely populated beaches.

Dance parties, loud music, flash lights, and beach-buggies are destroying their breeding grounds which are also threatened by stray dogs, crows and kites.

Hawk’s Bay coastline, including Sandspit and Paradise Point, is becoming a killings field for aquatic life.According to Shah Mir Baloch, a local volunteer who works for the survival of green turtles, drunken revelers start hurling threats if stopped from their noisy parties. “They become aggressive and can harm you if confronted,” he told The Express Tribune.

Stray canines roaming the beaches and crows and kites also pose a threat to green turtles’ eggs and hatchlings. “Two decades ago, seven species of sea turtles were found in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan, but now their number has reduced to only two due to marine pollution and commercial activities on the beaches,” Baloch said.

“Of these, Olive Ridley has also become almost extinct. Since 2010, no live Olive Ridley turtle has been seen on Karachi’s beaches, while green turtle is also facing serious threats,” he added.

According to experts, fishing nets in the ocean pose another threat to baby turtles which somehow come out from the eggs that are spared by stray dogs and crows. Besides that, the blades of boat engines that navigate around the natural habitat of these turtles are also a threat to these hatchlings. Turtles often fall into the blades of the boats and die.

The average lifespan of a turtle is around 70 years, but they can live up to 100 years. According to experts, a female turtle lays 120 to 170 eggs at a time. Apart from Sandspit and Paradise Point, female green turtles also go to coastal areas of Balochistan.

According to an IUCN study, the survival rate of turtles that hatch safely is 1.1 percent, which means one in 1,000 hatchlings survive. According to experts, turtles have an important role in the bottom of the sea, on which the security of the entire world depends. Seaweed growing in the ocean bed is the diet of these turtles. If the turtles stop eating this weed, it might grow beyond limit and cause severe suffocation in the sea.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2022.