The Olive Ridleys are back!

India Today

Every year, thousands of Olive Ridley turtles return to Odisha’s shores, following a migration older than empires.

Transcript

00:00The Olive Ridley turtles have returned, in the thousands, in the tens of thousands, their

00:05flippers etching ancient patterns into the sands of Odisha, just as they have for millions

00:11of years.

00:12And yet, how many of us are paying attention?

00:15Across India, there is an obsession with reclaiming history, court battles over places of worship,

00:20fierce debates over monuments and what they mean to our past, people fighting over bricks

00:25and stones, iron age and bronze age, trying to rewrite history through human conflict.

00:31But history is also alive, moving, breathing, returning, and few moments capture the truth

00:37more powerfully than this, the arrival of the Olive Ridleys, a migration so ancient

00:43that it predates not just our temples and mosques, but the very idea of civilization

00:47itself.

00:48These creatures are ancient travellers, far older than any kingdom, older than our civilizations,

00:54older than the very idea of India itself.

00:57They swarmed in these waters when the Mauryan Empire flourished, when Emperor Shoka inscribed

01:01his edicts on rock, speaking of compassion for all life.

01:05They were here when the Kalinga navy sailed the seas, their fleets touching distant shores,

01:10carrying with them the spirit of trade, art and Buddhism.

01:13They have seen Kola rise, its magnificent sun-kissed chariot carved from stone, and

01:19they have seen it swallowed by time and the sea.

01:21They were here when Orissa resisted the British, when heroes like Bakshi Jagabandhu led the

01:26fight in India's first war of independence, 40 years before 1857.

01:31And today, as India steps into a new age, forging ahead in science and technology, these

01:35turtles return, reminding us that some journeys, no matter how far, always lead home.

01:42Yet for all their endurance, for all their age-old wisdom, these turtles met their greatest

01:46challenge not in the open ocean, but on land, where humans reshaped their world.

01:52For centuries, the olive ridleys arrived without fear, their rhythms in sync with the tides.

01:57Then came the modern age, beachfront development erasing their nesting sites, artificial lights

02:02confusing the hatchlings, plastic choking their waters, and fishing trawlers turning

02:07migration routes into death traps.

02:09In the 1990s, the bodies washed ashore in horrifying numbers, casualties of unregulated

02:15fishing and human neglect.

02:17There was a time when it seemed this sacred migration, this timeless return, might end

02:21forever.

02:22But Orissa refused to let that happen.

02:25This is one of the rare stories where humanity, recognizing the damage it had done, chose

02:29to correct its course.

02:31The people of Orissa, the government and conservationists stepped up.

02:34Strict fishing bans were enforced during nesting season.

02:37The Indian Coast Guard and forest officials patrolled the waters.

02:41They were encouraged to use turtle-excluded devices, simple innovations that allow trapped

02:45turtles to escape.

02:47And because of these efforts, the olive ridleys continue to return, proof that when humans

02:52and nature find a way to coexist, life prevails.

02:55Yet, even as we celebrate, a tragedy unfolds down south.

02:59In Tamil Nadu, the same species faces a brutal fate.

03:02Just weeks ago, over 500 olive ridleys were found dead on the Chennai coast.

03:07Most bore deep injuries, fractured shells, severed flippers, the unmistakable marks of

03:12entanglement in fishing nets or collision with mechanised trawlers.

03:16Unlike Orissa, where seasonal fishing restrictions have protected these turtles, Tamil Nadu's

03:21fishing industry remains largely unregulated in key nesting zones.

03:25The result?

03:26A massacre in the water.

03:28A migration interrupted.

03:29A species struggling to survive against the weight of human indifference.

03:33This is why Orissa's success is more than just a conservation story.

03:37It is a civilizational moment.

03:39One that proves that progress does not have to come at the cost of nature.

03:43These turtles do not just return to the sands of Orissa.

03:45They return to an India that is learning, that is listening, that is making choices

03:49today that will echo across centuries.

03:52And as the waves roll in, and the turtles march ashore under the watchful moon, they

03:57remind us of something profound.

03:59This land has always been a sanctuary for life, for history, for the ancient rhythms

04:04of nature that have outlasted empires.

04:07May it always remain so.

04:09I am Manisha Dikari.

04:10Thank you for watching The Culture Project on MOA.

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