Ocean Sentry
(From odishatoday.com) Bhubaneswar, Orissa – In a bid to save lives of thousands of endangered Olive Ridley Turtles, Dhamara Port Corporation Limited (DPCL) and IUCN have joined hands to introduced a unique lighting system in the Port area.
It is being introduced for the first time in India to minimise the mass killing of turtles. The strategic objectives are to avoid wherever possible, or minimize and mitigate the impact of Dhamra Port development on turtles, and compensate or offset residual impact that cannot be avoided or reasonably mitigated.
The lighting plan was mooted to minimize the emitted light and potential downstream impacts to nestling adult turtles and emerging hatchling at the Gahirmatha mass nestling site of Orissa.
The move of the DPCL came following wide spread protest by the several wildlife bodies, that the Port would affect the movements of turtles and would patronise mass killing.
Dr Nicolas J. Pilcher, Co-Chair IUCN SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group lead a team of marine scientists and turtle experts to get a first hand knowledge on Port areas, sources said on Monday.
