Sea Turtles on Pitara Kids Network

Sea Turtles

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 20:26:11 +0000

Can you name an animal that returns to the place of its birth, every single year, journeying more than 1,000 km to do so? Well, here is another hint: this animal is a sea creature that originated on earth more than 200 million years ago- making the species older than the oldest ever dinosaur.

Give up? They are none other than marine turtles, more commonly known as sea turtles. Seven existing species of sea turtles exist in the world today of which at least four (the Olive Ridley, Green Hawksbill, Leatherback and Flatback) are fairly common in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The sea turtle, or the Leatherback is the largest living turtle. It can grow up to a length of six feet and is known to weigh about 700 kgs!

Death Threat

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 08:08:23 +0000

March 19: The Olive Ridleys are olive-green coloured sea-turtles that have existed for more than 200 million years. The Gahirmatha beach in Orissa is one of their nesting sites, but unfortunately the fishermen have started catching these turtles for meat to sell in the local market.

This has alarmed environmentalists. Nature lover and scientist, BR Ray says that this trend will surely lead to the extinction of the turtles.
Thousands of female ridleys travel thousands of kilometres to lay their eggs at Gahirmatha beach. The beach also happens to be one of the four large nesting sites for Olive Ridleys in the world. The others are found in the tropical Pacific, Indian and the South Atlantic Oceans.