Turtle Walk

Its a pity I didn’t hear about the turtle walk until march. The season was coming to an end and when I learned about it I was told that I wouldn’t get to see many turtles now. Nevertheless I went along.

The coromandel coastline is the breeding ground for thousands of Olive Ridley turtles every year. They come to the beach at night, lay eggs and go back into the sea where they came from. These eggs are very likely to get damaged (by natural and human elements alike) so the SSTCN tries to protect them. During the peak season between October and February, they organize walks on the beach at nights looking for the eggs and transporting them safe to a hatchery. The object of their efforts is to help the breeding of the turtles and also create awareness about the endangered species.

So here I was on neelankarai beach at 12 midnight. The group starts there and heads towards elliot’s beach (better known as bessie). That makes it around 7 km. Imagine a group of 40 odd people wandering in small groups at midnight on the beach with torches in their hands and shining them on the ground as though looking for buried treasure! Yes, that were the first timers. The veterans were casually strolling with their keen eyes searching around unhurriedly. Once the turtle lays an egg, it carefully covers it with sand leaving no trace. Then it goes back to the sea. The sand over the egg looks undisturbed and the turtle tracks are soon washed away by the waves. It might seem impossible to find the eggs but the experts have their own methods. Occasionally we are lucky to spot a turtle come out of the sea and watch it laying eggs.



The sea looked and sounded just like what it was. A giant monster with tentacles in the form of waves which lashed out every minute to grab us with a muffled roar. The subdued retreat every time vowed to be back with more ferocity. I took many pics on my digicam and this one was a beauty. It was by pure accident that I managed to create an optical illusion with a simple click and no fancy adjustments.



We kept walking for about 4 hours and reached elliot’s beach in the wee hours of the morning. The only thing we came across was a dead turtle. As they said… the season was coming to an end. They have a hatchery further down near the mouth of adyar river. For me, that was the high point of the whole trip! Turtles! Baby turtles !! So many of them…



I must say they looked so juicy ! I’ve never tasted turtle (they say turtle soup is delicious) and here were so many right in front of me…… I still wonder what would have happened that night if SSTCN had known about my REAL intentions ! I did manage to get one in my hand but couldn’t pop it in!



Collecting the turtle eggs and keeping them in a safe place till they hatch is just half of it. The next part is to make sure the babies reach home safely. And their home is the big bad sea. The turtles when set free head towards the sea following their natural instincts.


The exodus of turtles was indeed a fine sight to see.


Baby turtles at last return to their home.


This lucky one got to go home just after he was born.



The turtle walk ended at dawn. We all went back to Bessie and parted from there. I drove home after an enjoyable walk on the beach throughout the night yet disappointed that I didn’t get to taste any turtle !! Check out all the juicy food below. Its enough to turn anyone crazy !