Hi Everyone!! This article will share Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of A Lantern As Big As A House, Wandering Singers and The Charge of Light Brigade so, you can check these posts as well.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Questions & Answers
Question 1: How did the turtle walk start?
Answer: One of the conservationists had found a dead Olive Ridley sea turtle washed ashore many years ago and she decided to do something about it. She and her friends began to educate the fisherfolk and people living along the coast about sea turtles and the need to protect them. That is how the turtle walk started.
Question 2: What were the volunteers asked to do?
Answer: The volunteers were given two tasks – to look for turtle eggs and to release newly hatched turtles into the sea. They were asked to look out for marks like tractor tyres leading from the sea towards the shore.
Question 3: How did Noufiya find a turtle nest?
Answer: Noufiya found the nest of the turtle by following its track along the sand. The tracks were created by the flippers of the female turtle as she dragged herself across the sand.
Question 4: What did the volunteers do with the eggs?
Answer: One volunteer spread some sand in a basket and transferred the eggs to it. He covered it with more sand from the nest. Another volunteer wrote down the date, time, number of eggs and temperature of the sand on a piece of paper and put it in the basket. Two other volunteers then took the basket to the hatchery.
Question 5: What did Noufiya do when she went back to the hatchery?
Answer: After returning to the hatchery, Noufiya dug three separate holes in the sand and buried the turtle eggs in these nests. For this, she also used sand from the original nests. In another part of the hatchery, she saw hundreds of newborn Olive Ridley sea turtles, hatched from the eggs collected almost two months ago. She even got to hold one in her palm.
Question 6: How were the baby turtles released into the sea?
Answer: The hatchlings were taken in baskets towards the sea. The volunteers formed a semicircle on the beach and put 241 hatchlings on the ground. At midnight, the newborns walked into the sea with the waves. Some of them were washed back to the shore. The volunteers directed them towards the sea, and soon, all the baby turtles disappeared from sight.
Question 7: What are the dangers that the Olive Ridley sea turtles face?
Answer: Adult Olive Ridley turtles are killed for their skin or meat. They often get trapped in fishing nets and their flippers get cut off. Most of them are severely wounded and they drown. Turtle eggs and hatchlings are eaten by crabs, dogs, snakes, birds or are trampled on by people. Hatchlings instinctively walk to the sea, guided by the starlight reflected by the waves. But the street lights confuse them and they walk towards the shore. Their chances of survival on land are very slim. They have also become endangered because there are very few nesting sites remaining in the world for these turtles.
Question 8: How did the Olive Ridley sea turtles get their name?
Answer: Olive Ridleys are so called because of the colour of their heart-shaped shell and H N Ridley, who discovered the species.
Question 9: Why do you think arribadas take place only at night?
Answer: According to me, Arribadas take place only at night because the beaches are usually filled with people during the day and the turtles find it safer to lay their eggs at night when the beach is relatively empty.
Question 10: Mark these sentences as True or Not True. Correct the ones that are not true.
1. The turtle walk is organised just to observe the beautiful sea turtles – Not True
Correct Statement – The turtle walk is organised to protect the sea turtles and to educate the fisherfolk and people living along the coast about sea turtles.
2. The flippers of the female turtle leave tracks on the sand – True
3. In the hatchery, the eggs are buried in holes in the ground – True
4. Arribadas occur in many places in the world – Not True
Correct Statement – There are very few nesting sites remaining in the world and so arribadas occur in very few places.
5. The female turtles come back to lay eggs on the same beaches where they were born – True
6. The turtles lay around 40 eggs on the beach – Not True
Correct Statement – One female Olive Ridley turtle lays about 80-120 eggs.
So, these were Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Questions & Answers.