Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 11 February 2023
A Leatherback Sea Turtle, also referred to as a Giant Leatherback Turtle, was discovered this morning in water collected in a low-lying space between the seashore and the highway at Gandhi Nagar Village in Great Nicobar.
The turtle was rescued by the locals and the forest officers and despatched again to sea.
The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the biggest of all residing turtles and is the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile reaching lengths upto 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) and weighing upto 500 kilograms. Even bigger and heavier leatherback turtles have additionally been recorded however are very uncommon.
Great Nicobar is likely one of the most vital nesting websites of Leatherback Sea Turtles. Every 12 months hundreds of leatherback turtles flock to the shores of Great Nicobar to put eggs primarily between October and March.
Forest Department deputes its workers to areas the place Leatherback Sea Turtles primarily nest, they usually be certain that these Leatherback Sea Turtles are usually not disturbed by people and different animals whereas nesting.
Forest Department additionally preserves the eggs laid by these Leatherback Sea Turtles in hatcheries made on their nesting websites, they usually care for these eggs till they hatch.
These Leatherback Turtles are very protecting of their eggs and lay their eggs solely after ascertaining that the realm is protected. If they detect the slightest exercise by one other animal on the seashore earlier than they begin laying their eggs, they abort and return to the ocean.
They dig enormous ditches by utilizing paddle-like flippers on the again facet of their physique and shut them correctly after laying eggs. They even stage the sand to keep away from the detection of their nests by different animals.
In a nesting season, a single Leatherback turtle lays a number of nests, sometimes 08-12 days aside. In each nesting, the enormous Leatherback turtle lays 100 eggs on common. After 60-65 Days, their eggs hatches and hatchlings emerge from the nest.
Due to rain, the low-lying space between the seashore and the ocean at Gandhi Nagar stuffed up with water and the Leatherback turtle, after nesting, may need confused the physique of water for the ocean.
