Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 11 February 2023
A Leatherback Sea Turtle, also known as a Giant Leatherback Turtle, was found this morning in water accumulated in a low-lying area between the beach and the road at Gandhi Nagar Village in Great Nicobar.
The turtle was rescued by the locals and the forest officials and sent back to sea.
The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest of all living turtles and is the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile reaching lengths upto 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) and weighing upto 500 kilograms. Even larger and heavier leatherback turtles have also been recorded but are very rare.
Great Nicobar is one of the most important nesting sites of Leatherback Sea Turtles. Every year thousands of leatherback turtles flock to the shores of Great Nicobar to lay eggs primarily between October and March.
Forest Department deputes its staff to areas where Leatherback Sea Turtles primarily nest, and they ensure that these Leatherback Sea Turtles are not disturbed by humans and other animals while nesting.
Forest Department also preserves the eggs laid by these Leatherback Sea Turtles in hatcheries made on their nesting sites, and they take care of these eggs until they hatch.
These Leatherback Turtles are very protective of their eggs and lay their eggs only after ascertaining that the area is safe. If they detect the slightest activity by another animal on the beach before they start laying their eggs, they abort and return to the sea.
They dig huge ditches by using paddle-like flippers on the back side of their body and close them properly after laying eggs. They even level the sand to avoid the detection of their nests by other animals.
In a nesting season, a single Leatherback turtle lays several nests, typically 08-12 days apart. In every nesting, the giant Leatherback turtle lays 100 eggs on average. After 60-65 Days, their eggs hatches and hatchlings emerge from the nest.
Due to rain, the low-lying area between the beach and the sea at Gandhi Nagar filled up with water and the Leatherback turtle, after nesting, might have confused the body of water for the sea.