Mumbai: ‘Olive Ridley, the first sea turtle, has lost contact. An attempt was made by the forest department to find a way to navigate the sea by putting a satellite tag on the back of ‘Prathama’. But these efforts have now been thwarted. As this is the second female tortoise to lose contact, turtle lovers have become hysterical.
The Mangrove Foundation said in a tweet on Thursday, “We have lost the signal of the ‘first’ turtle tagged here on January 25, 2022 at Velas in Ratnagiri. We speculate that the transmission may have stopped due to the failure of the satellite transmitter. ” In the last 4 months, Prathama has covered a distance of 2,700 km. The signal has not been received since May 24. The transmitter mounted on the back of ‘Prathama’ seems to be more likely to be damaged. Manas Manjrekar said that the chances of death of this Utal ‘Prathama’ seem low. ‘Prathama’ had traveled from Maharashtra to Gujarat from the shores of Diu. Then she turned back and came to the shores of Maharashtra. Her last signal was at a distance of 60 km from the shores of Kunkeshwar in Sindhudurg district. The pattern of her movement was towards the south, said Manjrekar.
Before moving to Gujarat, Prathama spent a lot of time in Dabhol Bay. There is plenty of food at the mouth of the river, so it must have stayed a long time. She also walked long distances in Gujarat waters, said Manjrekar. The data is being analyzed by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India and a clear picture will emerge once the analysis is complete. In January and February of this year, five Olive Ridley turtles were first satellite-tagged on the West Coast. The purpose was to study their movements throughout the year to better understand their lifestyle. In Dabhol, where she first spent a week, there is evidence that she came to the nest, but as there was a lot of garbage, she did not lay eggs at first, Manjrekar said.
