Olive Ridley sea turtles
Nesting at Tonka Beach
A season-by-season diary of nests, eggs and hatchlings on the sand spit at the mouth of the Sharavathi River.
How a season unfolds
November to April: females come ashore at night, mostly on dark, quiet stretches of the spit. Fishermen look for the tell-tale tracks at first light.
Protecting the nest: the Forest Department and the fishing community fence nests where they are, or move the eggs to a fenced hatchery away from dogs, crabs and high tides. A board records the date.
About 45 to 60 days later: the hatchlings emerge, usually at night or early morning. They are released at the water's edge.
2024 to 2025
Nests were found in January 2025 and protected by the Forest Department with fishermen and Honavar Foundation volunteers. Fishermen leaders Rajesh Tandel, Ramesh Tandel and Bhaskar Tandel found one nest of 124 eggs and helped move it to safety.
On 11 February 2025, 95 hatchlings were released into the sea. Two nests laid on 10 January hatched on 27 and 28 February, sending about 180 more hatchlings to the sea.
2023 to 2024
Honavar Foundation recorded 38 adult turtles nesting between January and April 2024. Not every nest survived: in March 2024 stray dogs destroyed about 700 eggs on the beach, a reminder of why fencing nests matters.
2022 to 2023
The first nest of the season was found and protected with the Karnataka Forest Department on 14 December 2022. By 8 March 2023 the community had found 35 nests holding more than 4,000 eggs.
The first hatchlings were released on 10 February 2023, after the fishing community worshipped them in the presence of Forest Department officials. On Holi, 7 March 2023, fishermen released 96 more.
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