Sea Turtles and their Nesting Habitats in Gujarat (original) (raw)

Four species of sea turtles—olive ridley turtles, green turtles, leatherback turtles and hawksbill turtles—are found in the waters off Gujarat, but only the first two are known to nest along its coast (Bhaskar 1978, 1984, Kar and Bhaskar 1982). Only a few studies have reported possible nesting sites and status, threats such as egg depredation and sand mining, and killing of turtles for oil and flippers (Frazier 1980); no detailed, recent information is available. Apart from Bhaskar’s early work, some notes on an international tag return (Firdous 1991), necropsies from stranded animals (Frazier 1989), and some unpublished reports by Trivedi,1 little information on sea turtles has been recorded from Gujarat.