SAVEaTURTLE

Search the site

    Press / anywhere to search. ↑ ↓ to move, Esc to close.

    An Olive Ridley turtle head, close up, under water.

    Species

    The Olive Ridley

    Lepidochelys olivacea. Small, olive-green, legally protected, and nesting on the Coromandel coast from December to March.

    Nesting calendarHow to identify one
    Size
    60-70 cmShell length, adult.
    Shell
    Olive-greenClose to heart-shaped from above.
    IUCN Red List
    VulnerableA worldwide assessment.
    Indian law
    Schedule IWildlife Protection Act, 1972.
    Nesting here
    December to MarchOn the Coromandel coast, at night.

    Identification

    How to identify one

    An Olive Ridley turtle swimming side-on, showing its shell and flippers.

    It lives almost entirely at sea. Females come ashore only to lay, at night, from December to March, including on beaches in Chennai.

    Learn the outline and the track first. Every mark below can be called in the dark, with no light.

    Printable ID guideOur field code
    1. Outline

      Heart-shaped from above, point at the tail. The fastest mark.

    2. Colour

      Olive-green on top, paler underneath. Wet, at night, it can look grey or black, so do not judge by colour alone.

    3. Size

      About 60 to 70 cm of shell on an adult, well under 50 kg.

    4. Side plates

      More than five plates down each side, often a different count left and right. That is normal.

    5. Flippers

      Two claws on each front flipper. A wide, blunt head.

    6. The track

      The front flippers move one at a time, so the track is staggered, not two matched arcs. A track counts even when the turtle has gone.

    A usable record

    A photo of a track and its body pit, taken without walking on them, is a usable record.

    At sea

    The rest of the year

    An Olive Ridley turtle swimming in open water.
    Where it lives
    Open water and the shallow shelf. It travels long distances between feeding areas and nesting beaches, so nets far away can still catch turtles that nest here.
    What it eats
    Crabs, prawns, molluscs, jellyfish and some algae, on the bottom and in open water. That is why it ends up in shrimp nets.
    Breathing
    Air, at the surface. A net it cannot leave drowns it.
    Time to adult
    Well over a decade. Published estimates vary.
    Lifespan
    Not reliably established.
    Sex of a clutch
    Set by sand temperature during incubation. Warmer sand, more females.
    Tracking
    We do not tag or track turtles. We log what comes ashore in front of us.
    Adults are lost at sea but counted on the sand, so a busy season can hide a falling population.

    Why this coast

    The Coromandel coast

    The Coromandel coast is a long, east-facing sand shore on the Bay of Bengal, past ports, fishing villages and Chennai. Females nest along it from December, on no fixed beach or date.

    Dry sand above the tide is everything.

    Nests need it. Seawalls, groynes and buildings remove it first.

    The sea is east, the city is west.

    Hatchlings head for the brightest horizon, and here that is often the city. Lighting is the biggest fixable problem on this coast.

    It is a working coast.

    Boats launch from these beaches and the city uses them daily. Our rules are in the field code.

    What does not happen here

    The arribada, or mass nesting, happens on the Odisha coast. Here, turtles come up alone. There is no night with a thousand turtles on a Chennai beach.

    On the sand

    A nesting night

    It takes about an hour. You watch; you do not touch.

    1. She comes up after darkNesting here happens at night, one female at a time, spread along the shore.
    2. Past the wet sandShe crawls above the high-tide line onto dry sand and clears a body pit. No dry sand, no nest.
    3. The chamberHer back flippers dig a flask-shaped chamber up to about half a metre deep.
    4. The clutchAbout a hundred soft-shelled eggs, laid over several minutes. She nests more than once a season.
    5. Cover, then confuseShe fills the chamber, packs it, then scatters sand widely to hide the spot.
    6. Back inUsually under an hour ashore. She does not return to the nest.
    7. IncubationAbout 45 to 60 days. Sand temperature sets the timing and the sex of the clutch: warmer sand, more females.
    8. EmergenceHatchlings dig out together at night or before first light and run for the brightest low horizon. The run matters, so nobody carries them to the water.
    Month-by-month nesting calendarWalk one of these nights
    Roughly one hatchling in a thousand survives to come back and lay.

    Threats

    What they are up against

    The six threats below are all human, and all on this coast. An adult female takes well over a decade to mature; losing one in a net matters more than losing a clutch.

    1. Trawl-net bycatch

      A turtle breathes air. Held under in a net, it drowns. Trawlers working close inshore in the nesting season kill adults at scale.

    2. Ghost gear

      Lost nets, line and rope keep catching. Flippers tangle and cannot pull loose. Ghost gear washes up on the nesting beaches.

    3. Beachfront lighting

      Hatchlings walk toward the brightest low horizon. On a dark beach that is the sea. Next to a lit wall, lawn or phone torch, it is the road.

    4. Plastic

      Drifting bags look like food. Line and straps tangle. Fragments block the gut.

    5. Vehicles and hardening

      Tyre ruts trap hatchlings. Packed sand is hard to dig. Seawalls, groynes and buildings remove the dry sand above the tide, the only place a nest survives.

    6. Nest predation

      Dogs, crows and ghost crabs dig up unguarded nests. People still take eggs. A marked, watched nest is far safer.

    What helps

    • Point beachfront lights down, shield them, or switch them off from December to April.
    • No white light or flash on the beach at night in season, including phone torches.
    • Report, do not handle. Turtles, nests, tracks and dead animals all go through report a turtle.
    • Take your plastic off the sand, or join a cleanup.
    • Keep vehicles off the sand and dogs on a lead.
    • If you fish, ask about gear that lets turtles escape nets. We run sessions with fishing communities on this.

    Legal status

    Law and listing

    Global listing
    IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. A worldwide assessment, not a count for this coast.
    India
    Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Schedule I. The highest level of protection, the same schedule as the tiger.
    What that forbids
    Catching, keeping, killing, buying, selling or possessing the animal, a dead one, its eggs or any part, including a piece of shell.
    Who handles animals
    Not the public, and not us alone. With the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. Handling, relocation and hatchery work happen under Forest Department authority.
    What you can do
    Watch, record, report and stay back.

    Next

    Join us on the sand

    The season runs December to March. The work happens at night.

    • the flagship

      Turtle Walk

      Guided night walks on nesting beaches, December to March.

    • dusk release, family-friendly

      Hatchling Farewell

      Watch the hatchlings reach the sea at 5 pm.

    • anywhere on the coast

      Awareness Sessions

      Schools, colleges, corporates, fisher communities. We come to you.

    Questions

    Common questions

    What is an Olive Ridley?
    A small marine turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) with an olive-green, heart-shaped shell of about 60 to 70 cm. IUCN Red List: Vulnerable; Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. It nests on the Coromandel coast, including Chennai, from December to March.
    Why is it called an Olive Ridley?
    Olive is the shell colour. The origin of "Ridley" is not known.
    How big does an Olive Ridley get?
    About 60 to 70 cm of shell and well under 50 kg as an adult.
    What do Olive Ridleys eat?
    Crabs, prawns, molluscs, jellyfish and some algae. That diet puts them in shrimp nets.
    How long does an Olive Ridley live, and how long does it take to become an adult?
    It takes well over a decade to become an adult. Lifespan is not reliably established.
    Is the Olive Ridley endangered?
    IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. In India the animal, its eggs and every part of it are in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the highest level of protection.
    Do Olive Ridleys nest in Chennai?
    Yes. Females nest at night from December to March along the Coromandel coast, including city beaches. They come up one at a time.
    Is the arribada mass nesting something you can see in Chennai?
    No. Arribada mass nesting happens on the Odisha coast. Here, turtles nest alone.
    Can I touch, move or keep an Olive Ridley, its eggs or its shell?
    No. Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 covers the live animal, a dead one, the eggs and any part, including a piece of shell. Report it instead. Handling is done with the Forest Department.
    Why does beachfront lighting matter so much?
    Hatchlings head for the brightest low horizon. Near lights, that is inland, not the sea. Switch lights off or shield them downward.
    I found a turtle, a nest or a dead turtle on the beach. What now?
    Do not move it or shine a white light on it. Note where you are, keep dogs and people back, and use the report page.

    When to come

    The nesting calendar, month by month

    Nesting December to March. Hatchlings follow about 45 to 60 days later.

    Nesting calendarEverything we run