Mating Olive Ridleys

[Bibhav Behera]

Had been to Rushikulya during my trip to Odisha in December. We had liaised with the DFO for the region and accompanied the team on a patrol speed boat and subsequently a trawler in the waters upto 8km offshore. We were blessed with amazing skies and calm blue seas.

We managed to spot about 25-30 mating pairs of Olive Ridleys between 300m to upto 6km offshore. What was even more heartening to see was the almost negligible no of carcasses on the beaches this time compared to earlier where rotting carcasses were a common sight during this time of the year. Earlier lack of patrolling gave way to incessant fishing which led to a lot of deaths by the turtles being caught in fishing nets or being hit by propellers. Great to see this change.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x TC (With B+W Circular Polariser)
SS 1/320 (+2/3 EC)
f/8
ISO 800

Full Frame Image. Critiques welcome.

PS: Note the Male Olive Ridley's claw to hold on to the female during mating.

[Mrudul Godbole]

A rare natural history moment photographed. Good to know that the conservation efforts are working. So we can hope to have a positive change in the olive ridley population. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Great to see this mating couple. The polariser would have reduced your shutter speed. The focus appears to be slightly ahead on the water. Most of the times in the contrast based AF systems there are chances that the focus locks on to the waves and ripples in the water. It is also not easy to get the focus fine tuned manually while moving on a motor boat. How many such mating pairs did you sight? Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bibhav Behera]

Hi Sabyasachi,
We spotted between 25-30 mating pairs in the waters.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

great to see this...it been a while since i have seen an olive ridley in the sea. good to know that patrolling has helped reducing the turtles getting killed.

TFs
roopak