African Journal of Ecology and Ecosystems

African Journal of Ecology and Ecosystems ISSN 2756-3367 Vol. 12 (6), pp. 001-005, June, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Human Impact on Olive Ridley Turtles at Rushikulya: An Assessment of Coastal Water Anthropological Factors

S. N. Bramha1*, U. C. Panda2, P. Rath 3, P. K. Mohanty2 and K. K. Satpathy1

1Environmental and Industrial Safety Section, IGCAR, Government of India, Kalpakkam-603102, India.
2Department of Marine Sciences, Berhampur University, Berhampur-760 007, India.
3Department of Chemistry, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT University), Bhubaneswar-751 024, India.

Accepted 12 April, 2025

The olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is known for its spectacular mass nesting behavior. The Rushikulya river mouth has emerged as one of the major mass nesting site in the world. To study the status of hydrological characteristics viz. depth, air and water temperature, salinity, conductivity, pH, total suspended solid, turbidity, dissolve oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, nutrients (NO2-N, NO3-N, (NH3+NH4)-N, SiO3 and PO4-P), petroleum hydrocarbon and dissolved trace metals such as Pb, Cd and Hg are evaluated in mass nesting period of olive ridley turtles at Rushikulya mass nesting site. In order to evaluate the status level of the pollutants and ultimately to protect the precious marine environment, an intensive monitoring has been carried out near Rushikulya, Gopalpur, Chatrapur and Haripur Creek of mass nesting site. The basic scientific objective of the present study is to determine the concentration, migration pattern and dynamics of the pollutants in the estuary and coastal environment.

Key words: Environmental pollution, water quality, trace metals, olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Rushikulya mass nesting site.