The sandy beaches — Hawkes Bay and Sandspit — of the city are among the 11 most important tropical turtle-nesting beaches in the world. Out of the seven turtle species in the world, only two — Green Turtles and Olive Ridley turtles — are found off the city’s coast.
Right next to the nesting beaches are the feeding grounds — the rocky shores of Balaji, Paradise Point, Cape Montz etc, where the staple foods of the turtles — sea weed, crustacean (shell fish), small molluscs, snails — are found in abundance.
Mother turtles, weighing between 300 and 400 pounds, come out of the sea, drag themselves on the coast and dig around three feet deep cylindrical hole in the sandy beach and lay around 100 eggs in one clutch. Leaving these on the mercy of nature, the mother turtle returns to sea.
A couple of months later the eggs hatch and the hatchlings come out and go into the sea. A female turtle usually lays eggs three times in a year and after that it usually takes a rest between three and five years. Then again she returns to lay eggs.
Though turtles lay a huge number of eggs, over-exploitation of turtles and habitat destruction, mostly due to pollution growth, have affected the turtle population. All the turtle species have been declared endangered internationally. Here also turtles are protected under the law.
Owing to the large number of predators, only one turtle grows to become an adult out of the 1,000 eggs laid. Stray dogs on the beaches dig the nest and eat the eggs. Some communities living nearby also dig out the eggs which are sold.
When the hatchlings weighing around 15 grams are returning to the sea, crows and aquatic birds attack and eat them on the beach.
When they are in the sea, a large number or marine creatures, such as crabs attack eat the hatchlings which are at a great risk till they complete the first year of their life, till their shell is hardened, after which it is difficult for the predators to kill them.
The turtles are of great commercial value and if their number grew considerably these could be exported, particularly to the Far East. The eggs are comparatively more nutritious than that of chickens. The turtle soup and steaks are delicacies in the Far East.
The turtle fat is used to make medicine for arthritis, the turtle oil due to its anti-corrosive quality is used to polish boats, its fresh blood is used to cure asthma, the shell is used for preparing decorative pieces such as combs, ashtrays, jewellry and the flipper, their leather is used for shoes and belts.
Keeping in view the extremely endangered status of turtles, the Sindh Wildlife Department, with the help of non-governmental international conservation organizations, started a turtle conservation project in the early 1980s, but soon the NGOs abandoned the project. The SWD is now single-handedly managing the project.
Project officer Fahmida Firdous says that the SWD staff patrol the beaches continuously, collect the eggs from the nests, bring them to the department’s enclosures, dig nests of the same depth and bury the round soft leathery eggs. When the mother turtle is returning to the sea after laying eggs, the staff tag it to keep a record.
After a couple of months, when the hatchlings come out of the nest, they are collected by the staff, brought to the beach and released about 15 to 20 feet away from the water. The hatchlings remember the beach and the females return to lay eggs after over a decade and a half.
Turtles are tagged to monitor the migration pattern and to know when they return to lay eggs again. The project director says a few tagged turtles were reported from the Indian coast of Gujarat, and the East African coast. Over 500 tagged turtles have returned to lay eggs at the city beaches so far.
Fahmida says that so far 5,100 turtles, which came out of the sea to lay eggs, have been tagged, 1.8 million eggs have been collected and over 550,000 hatchlings have been released into the sea. Owing to the high mortality rate it is necessary that the hatchlings are kept in protective care for at least a year, and then released into the sea. Fahmida hopes that in this way the survival rate will increased tremendously.
According to the project officer, the department is constructing a laboratory at the beach where the hatchlings will also be kept for a year. She hopes the laboratory will start its function by the next season.
Huge amount of untreated industrial effluents as well domestic sewage being drained into the sea from the Lyari and Malir rivers is affecting the marine life, including turtles. There is a need to treat effluents before they are released into the sea.