An olive ridley turtle was spotted on Mumbai’s Juhu Beach on Tuesday night after nearly seven years. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as if a forgotten nesting ground had been chosen again by the turtles.
But within minutes, the moment was lost.
The sighting was first reported by Juhu Buzz, a local Instagram page. Conservationists and marine experts from the Coastal Conservation Foundation said this wasn’t just any turtle sighting... this could have been a potential nesting event.
“This would have been a significant event, but due to a lack of awareness, visitors disturbed the turtle. Some even knocked on its shell,” Juhu Buzz wrote.
The last confirmed nesting of a dole of Olive Ridleys (not single ones) in Maharashtra was almost seven years ago. Since then, sightings have reduced. A casualty of Mumbai’s relentless urban sprawl, light pollution, and crowded shores.
Just the day before the Olive Ridley was seen at Juhu, Maharashtra’s forest officials had already swung into action at Kihim Beach in Alibaug. A turtle had been spotted scuttling across the sand, likely in search of a nesting site.
Locals alerted the mangrove cell, and officials rushed in to investigate. What they found was a telltale sign—flicks, and nesting tracks. The nesting area was immediately fenced off.
“The city actually never actively looked for turtles,” Shaunak Modi, director of the Coastal Conservation Foundation, told The Telegraph Online.
“Odisha did. Rushikulya and Gahirmatha are protected and patrolled. Mumbai has not yet seriously considered the possibility.”
That is..until now.
Will Mumbai ever see nesting again?
Fact is Mumbai has seen a turtle comeback before. In 2018, Versova Beach made headlines when at least 80 Olive Ridley hatchlings crawled toward the Arabian Sea. It was the result of what the UN called the “world’s largest beach cleanup project.” Over two years, Versova transformed from a plastic-ridden wasteland into a coastline pristine enough for a miracle.
It was proof that when humans fix their mess, nature responds.
According to the Marine Life of Mumbai NGO, this time the Olive Ridley’s presence near Juhu’s Koliwada construction site was a concern.
The vibrations from urban development, noise, artificial lighting, created a hostile environment for the nesting turtle.
“This turtle was most likely a female and was here to lay eggs,” an official from the NGO stated. “It wasn’t stranded..it came for nesting. And we failed to provide it a safe space.”
On Tuesday night, in response to the sighting, the Maharashtra Forest Department, the Coastal Conservation Foundation and Marine Life of Mumbai immediately deployed guards and began overnight patrolling. They hoped the turtle might return. It did not.
In Odisha, where tens of thousands of Olive Ridleys arrive every year, strict protection measures are in place. Artificial lighting is minimized, human activity is controlled, and nesting sites are monitored. Mumbai’s beaches, in contrast, are chaotic and filled with people at all hours.
“There’s no reason why Olive Ridleys can’t nest here again,” Modi said.
“They have before, and if the conditions are right, they will again. It’s not impossible.” added Modi who is also the co-founder of the Coastal Conservation Foundation (CCF).
As the Juhu turtle video went viral, another conversation emerged. Online, users began tying this sighting to ‘warnings from the ocean’, alongside sightings of oarfish and anglerfish, which are often associated with earthquakes and deep-sea disturbances.
Modi dismissed the hysteria.
“Yes, oarfish have been spotted near the Kerala coast recently, and yes, deep-sea creatures coming closer are often concerning. But Kerala’s fishermen are going deeper into the sea than before...so naturally, more marine life gets caught in nets. It’s a change, but not necessarily a catastrophe.”
“The problem isn’t that a turtle was seen. The problem is that people don’t know how to react when one is”, he added.
Mumbai has recorded over 600 marine species in the last seven years. The biodiversity is there. But without education and intervention the Olive Ridley will simply stop coming.