Record turtle nests found near major Indian port project
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
Researchers and forest officials in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands documented 997 turtle nests on Galathea Bay beach during the 2025-’26 nesting season, a record high since monitoring began four decades ago.
The majority of these nests, 889, belonged to leatherback turtles, with the remaining 108 belonging to Olive Ridley turtles. This data, confirmed through a Right to Information application, initially surfaced in a Scroll report based on photographs and local accounts.
The high number of nests occurred despite ongoing construction related to a large infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island. The project includes a transshipment port, airport, power plant, and township, and will significantly alter the coastline of Galathea Bay, reducing its opening from 3,000 metres to just 300 metres. Marine biologists worry the construction, which involves dredging, breakwaters, and increased vessel traffic, will destroy or make inaccessible a crucial nesting site.
However, some experts suggest leatherback turtles may shift to other beaches if Galathea Bay becomes unsuitable, as they did after the 2004 tsunami. Others caution that alternative nesting sites in places like Sumatra, Indonesia, already face threats like poaching. BC Choudhury, a former head of Endangered Species Management, emphasized the importance of protecting the Galathea nesting ground, noting the record numbers demonstrate a need to balance development with conservation.
