Great Nicobar beaches record highest leatherback turtle nests in Indian Ocean

Last winter, female leatherback turtles laid eggs in 869 nests on a beach bordering Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar Island, according to Andaman and Nicobar Forest Department data obtained through the Right to Information Act. This is the highest number of leatherback nests recorded on any beach in the Indian Ocean during the nesting season ending in March.

Nesting Data

Nesting numbers have also risen in recent years on the South Bay and West Bay beaches of Little Andaman Island. Hiltrud Cordes of the Turtle Foundation states that Galathea is the epicenter of this nesting population, hosting about 175 or more leatherback mothers per year. Data shows that the Andaman and Nicobar region serves as the stronghold for the Northeastern Indian Ocean leatherback population.

Genetic Significance

Marine biologists Kartik Shanker and B.C. Choudhury studied mitochondrial DNA from over 100 leatherbacks nesting at Galathea in the winter of 2001-2002. They detected four distinct haplotypes, which indicated that the genetic diversity of Galathea's leatherbacks was among the highest in the world at that time. Researchers note that limited genetic diversity across modern leatherbacks, caused by a population bottleneck about a million years ago, worries conservationists regarding the animals' ability to adapt to climate change.

Context

Leatherback turtles belong to a family that has cruised the oceans for more than 100 million years, surviving the extinction event that killed off other dinosaurs. However, their population stability on Great Nicobar faces threats from a massive development project along the island's southern and eastern coasts, including a container transshipment terminal port planned at Galathea Bay.