Co-Editors, Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter
iotn.editors@gmail.com
Welcome to IOTN42, and a diverse range of articles and news about sea turtle biology, conservation, and rehabilitation. The content in this issue ranges from a study on post-war tourism and coastal development in Sri Lanka to a review on the practice of “splitting” clutches. The SSTCN Turtle Diary for 2025 gives us a taste of what it was like for volunteers working in this very busy year (see also the news below), and we have a case study that complements the special issue of IOTN41 (with MedTurtle Bulletin) which focused on the rescue and rehabilitation of sea turtles. IOTN42 also includes the President’s Report for the 43rd Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, held in Accra, Ghana, in March 2025, and an announcement for the 44th symposium to be held in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i in March 2026.
Not reported in IOTN42, but equally as exciting, are stories about the arribada in India this year where ~7 lakh (700,000) olive ridley turtles are estimated to have nested at Rushikulya in Odisha. Another amazing turtle feat is an olive ridley tagged after nesting in Odisha (on the east coast of India) in 2021 recorded nesting in Maharashtra (west coast of India) in 2025. See the references by Perinchery (2025) and ET Online (2025) below for popular media stories about these turtle phenomena.
Literature cited:
ET Online. 2025. From Odisha to Maharashtra: Olive Ridley turtle 03233 travels 3,500 km from east to west, surprising scientists. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/from-odisha-to-maharashtra-olive-ridley-turtle-03233-travels-3500-km-from-east-to-west-surprising-scientists/articleshow/120309879.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst. Accessed on June 15, 2025.
Perinchery, A. 2025. 2025 saw the biggest mass nesting of turtles in Odisha’s Rushikulya in at least 20 years. https://thewire.in/environment/odisha-rushikulya-nesting-turtles-olive-ridley. Accessed on June 15, 2025.
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