'Natal instinct guides olive ridleys to crowded Canacona beaches'

Canacona: Over the last few years, olive ridley turtles have not only chosen quieter beaches like Talpona and Rajbag, but also the crowded shores of Patnem and Palolem to nest. They have been returning to these beaches due to their natal homing instinct, according to the South Marine Turtle Rehabilitation Centre in-charge, Rajesh Naik.
Some years ago, these turtles must have hatched on these very stretches, he said. “It was neither reported then nor recorded. They return to these beaches every season.
“Also, patrolling in and around all these beaches has been satisfactory. We have seen olive ridley turtles even at crowded beaches, including in Salcete,” Naik added.
Last season, five flippered visitors surfaced at Talpona, four at Rajbag, three at Patnem and one at Palolem. All the eggs from the three sites and from Palolem were deposited in the Galgibaga hatchery.
Five more nests, two from Velsao and one each from Mobor, Baina and Betalbatim, were shifted to Galgibaga too.
During the bygone decades, the entire Goan coastline was home to olive ridley turtles. But with increased tourist footfall, the extent of disturbance increased. Also, nesting activity and conservation suffered tremendously due to poaching and the ravaging of nests by stray dogs and other animals.
Conservation on a modest scale started in Morjim, and the once secluded Galgibaga followed shortly in the late 1990s.
Morjim and Mandrem in Pernem and Agonda and Galgibaga in Canacona were subsequently designated as turtle nesting sites under the CRZ notification.
The number of nestings at the three beaches of Canacona, however, was slightly higher last season in 2023-2024.
A total of eight nests from Rajbag, three from Patnem and two from Patnem were relocated to either Agonda or Galgibaga.