A shift in conservation approach from Orissa, India

The narrative on sea turtle conservation and fisheries in India is introduced with varying style, intent and tenor depending on who tells the tale. The imagery left behind is usually varied. Sometimes magical – consider thousands of hatchlings emerging from hundreds of nests at the three olive ridley mass nesting sites of Gahirmatha, Devi or Rushikulya on the east Indian coast. Or the truly amazing sight of thousands of gravid female turtles waddling ashore to nest en masse under a fast brightening midnight sky.