Orissa seeks halt to missile tests during turtle nesting season

[Markus]

Dear Turtles,

Please find some alternate place for yourself, the missile testing really CANNOT STOP.

Thank you.

 

[KS]

There is no harm in temporarily halting the tests for the sake of these animals.

Their biological clock knows only this place to nest and we must respect nature.

 

[Varad]

Efficient steps should be taken to preserve and protect wildlife and ecological systems. I would say a good move.

 

[Dance]

Military Debris Threaten Oceans

ENVIRONMENT: Military Debris Threaten Oceans - IPS ipsnews.net

A fatally injured olive ridley turtle on Puri Beach, Orissa. The turtles face multiple threats - including missile launches.



India’s armed forces have also destroyed fragile marine habitat and coral ecosystems. In the Bay of Bengal, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducts missile tests in the middle of a turtle-nesting site within the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.

"DRDO is not supposed to carry out missile testing during the turtle nesting season. However, they flout this rule despite regular forest department objections," charges Biswajit Mohanty, of the Wildlife Society of Orissa.

"In one recent incident, the missile misfired, resulting in the destruction of the turtle nesting habitat in Nasi Island inside the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary - a breeding ground for olive ridley turtles. The vibration coming from missile launches being almost equal to seismic intensity can have an impact on the fragile eggs, we still don’t know scientifically what happens as an impact on the eggs," Mohanty told IPS. "The DRDO is insensitive that the state’s unique natural heritage - olive ridley turtles - might abandon the nesting grounds if the missile activity disturbs them."

The DRDO "have not disclosed the nature of debris littered in the sea," Mohanty added.

The government response: "DRDO takes due care to avoid any adverse effect on eco-system while planning and conducting missile tests from DRDO ranges. The launching pad has been designed in such a manner that it does not affect the fauna and flora of that area or cause any adverse effect on the environment."

"The flares emanating from missile launch heat the habitat, and disorient the turtles and hatchlings especially when they head to the sea," says a concerned Mohanty.

The DRDO however told IPS that, "All illuminated lights are placed in inverted position with shades and flames coming out of missiles lasting less than a minute, which do not affect the nesting of olive ridley turtles."

The Indian Navy has also chosen the coral island of Netrani on India’s west coast for "target practice," V. N. Nayak, marine biologist at the post graduate centre of Karnatak University in Karwar told IPS. "Netrani Island is home to diverse fauna, enlisted both in the IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] Red Data List and the Indian Wildlife Protection Act’s Schedule One."

Naval exercises are a dire threat to the ecosystem, Nayak said. The large number of bullets, bombs, missiles and torpedoes fired at the endemic wildlife of the island and the seas cause mass mortality of fish and corals in this ecosystem. "Target practice on endangered wildlife is irresponsible," he stressed. "Netrani Island is located under the Coastal Regulatory Zone 4 and fishing zone."

Netrani Island’s fauna includes the white bellied sea eagle, corals, coral fish, whale shark, tiger shark, giant groupers, giant clam, dolphins, sea snakes, crustaceans, reef sharks, stingrays, squid, sea cucumbers olive ridley turtles, jelly fish, sea urchins, killer whales and edible nest swiftlets. The island is the only place outside of the Andaman Nicobar Islands where edible nest swiftlets live.

"Naval firing practices are periodically conducted on a 16-metre barren rock, located close to Netrani Island," the Indian Navy told IPS. "Such firing practices have been conducted for the last six decades." With chances of an outbreak of hostilities stemming from the terrorist attacks in Mumbai "the necessity for the Indian Armed Forces to remain combat-ready... at all times can hardly be over-emphasised. It is precisely this realisation that has already led the Karnataka Biodiversity Board to drop the proposal to consider Netrani Island a Biodiversity Park."

"Who is the enemy for the Indian Navy to bombard unarmed wildlife?" asks K. S. N. Cikkerur, the additional director general of the police forest cell of Karnataka, in Bangalore. Is the enemy the rare "Schedule One species listed in the Wildlife Protection Act?" Cikkerur wonders.

Thats so sad

Nature/Animals should always be respected

 

[StingRoy]

Give the DRDO people a well deserved vacation during this time ... and let the turtles do their turtle business.

 

[senselesstalk]

We human's have no right to destroy the animal's land, its their and its due to these animals, plants etc the ecosystem survives and feeding us. If we destruct nature, nature also devises its own ways to show its fury on us, then we will be only mere spectators....

 

[desimorty]

We human's have no right to destroy the animal's land, its their and its due to these animals, plants etc the ecosystem survives and feeding us. If we destruct nature, nature also devises its own ways to show its fury on us, then we will be only mere spectators....

Humans are animals as well. Believe in Darwin that we are right.
However, i'm against destroying nature my self.
For different reasons.
As higher beings we tend to think of ourselves. We need to act it.
Imagine India as developed as Japan, where is India in that picture.
We need to learn how to live with our enivornment rather than making the enivornment shift for us. The mightest civilizations have collapsed because of their neglect for nature.

 

[StingRoy]

The Hindu : News / National : Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles begins on Orissa coast

SPRINGING TO LIFE: Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings coming out of a nest at the Rushikulya river mouth rookery in Ganjam district of Orissa early Saturday morning

With the start of mass hatching of Olive Ridley eggs, this major nesting site of the endangered turtles has again turned into a large cradle of budding life.

During the past two nights, more than four-lakh hatchlings have come out from around 50,000 nests on this coast. Lakhs more are to come out of the remaining nests in the next few days. Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) A.K. Jena, who is monitoring this mass nesting, said hatching is expected to continue for three to four nights more. This year around 2,54,000 mother Olive Ridleys have come to this coast in March to dig up nests in sand.

Journey begins

Although around 100 eggs are laid in a nest, 80 hatchlings on an average come out of each nest. After laying the eggs, mother turtles return to the sea. Buried in sand, the eggs incubate with the help of natural heat and hatch in 45 days. Hatching occurs during the night or before dawn. Guided by their genetic instincts, the hatchlings come out like bubbles from the depths of the sand to start their march to the sea on their own.

 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

Thats so sad

Nature/Animals should always be respected

Awww how sad!

Do you think that when you eat them?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Awww how sad!

Do you think that when you eat them?

I think about it before and after I eat them.

 

[macho ki macho]

I think about it before and after I eat them.

Sir do chinese people also think of other animals like this?

http://www.defence.pk/forums/member...auts-ate-dog-meat-keep-up-their-strength.html

 

[Dance]

Awww how sad!

Do you think that when you eat them?

Wtf? Maybe you eat turtles but I do not.

Too many weird people on this forum

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Sir do chinese people also think of other animals like this?

http://www.defence.pk/forums/member...auts-ate-dog-meat-keep-up-their-strength.html

Nice attempt at flaming.

I'll answer though. I feel bad for animals that are kept in poor conditions before they are slaughtered.

However, I also think that animals eating animals is a part of nature.

 

[macho ki macho]

Animal eating is not natural. Cannibals can eat dead corpses but hannibals cant.

 

[StingRoy]

Stop arguing on petty topics please. If someone interested in knowing more about the Olive Ridley turtles, the NGC has a nice microsite.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtles, Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Pictures, Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Facts - National Geographic