It’s a lot smaller than the Esperanza. In fact, a few months ago the Sugayatri was just another dilapidated fishing boat. But with a coat of rainbow-coloured paint and a giant wooden turtle mounted like a figurehead, it’s now the latest addition to the fleet defending our oceans. The Sugayatri has just embarked on a mission to save the Olive Ridley turtle in India.
The Sugayatri, Greenpeace India's boat, defending Olive Ridley turtles.
The boat has been completely refitted to handle its new and
verydemanding job: to patrol the waters around Orissa's Gahirmatha
MarineSanctuary, documenting and observing the mass nesting of the
OliveRidley Turtle, and trying to make this nesting season a little
saferfor the Olive Ridley.
The beaches of Orissa, India, provide one of the last nesting
groundsof the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in the world. Every
year,between December and April, thousands of these beautiful
creatures comeashore on the beaches of Orissa to lay their
eggs.
Unfortunately, now Orissa resembles a turtle graveyard more than
abreeding ground. The populations of the Olive Ridley
arethreatened by various factors like trawling, offshore drilling
for oiland gas, and the proposed construction of an industrial port
near thenesting sites. Over 100,000 dead Olive Ridleys have been
washed ashoreon the beaches of Orissa in the last decade alone.
The crew of the Sugayatri have deployed six buoys to demarcate
theboundaries of the marine sanctuary. They have already seen first
handthe agony of an Olive Ridley caught in a gillnet. And they have
beeninstrumental in saving the lives of several trapped turtles.
Nearby,activists have established the "Turtle Witness Camp". The
camp wasinaugurated with a traditional Indian ceremony, which was
attended byhundreds of fisher families from neighbouring
villages.
In the first week alone, our activists and volunteers at the
campwitnessed the circle of life in all its gore and glory.
They'vewatched, awe-struck, as scores of mating Olive Ridley
turtles surfacearound Sugayatri. They've walked the beaches of
Orissa, deeply moved bythe many dead turtles literally dotting the
sand, and then found hopeagain after discovering flipper tracks.
These Ocean Defenders will stayin the area for five months to
monitor and document congregationalpatterns and mating of the Olive
Ridley at sea. Six weeks into itsinception, life at the Turtle
Witness Camp is already a kaleidoscope ofemotions, from awe at the
exquisite beauty of the region and the OliveRidley turtles, but
also the needless and senseless deaths of hundredsof the same
turtles.
Soon the Esperanza will embark on the next leg of our
year-longjourney, confronting pirate fishing fleets and their
devastatingimpacts on tuna in the Atlantic. In the meantime, the
plight of theOlive Ridley is yet another example of a species, like
whales,suffering because of human greed. Follow this emerging
story atGreenpeace India's blog, where volunteers,
activists and visiting crewfrom the Arctic Sunrise will describe
their days at the camp, anddiscuss the importance of defending our
oceans.
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