Volunteers play guardians as Olive Ridleys return to the Thiruvananthapuram shoreline to lay eggs 

Ajith Shanghumugham protects Olive Ridley turtle eggs in Thiruvananthapuram, facing environmental challenges and poaching threats.

Like a mythical gryphon guarding a folkloric treasure, Ajith Shanghumugham, a traditional fisher volunteering as a conservator for the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), is obsessively focused on protecting an estimated 230 Olive Ridley turtle eggs incubating beneath the sands of Shanghumughom and Valiyaveli beaches in coastal Thiruvananthapuram. 

Olive Ridleys are a unique but vulnerable turtle species like leatherbacks. By some estimates, the reptiles have existed for at least 110 million years, and naturalists count them among the few species that survived the extinction-level event that wiped out the dinosaurs. 

They usually make landfall on quiet beaches at night to lay eggs which hatch around April. In 2024, a few turtles laid eggs near the Shanghumughom beach, but untimely rains prevented their hatching. The unexpected return of Olive Ridleys last year, after a gap of around 10 years, buoyed marine wildlife enthusiasts and steeled their resolve to protect the eggs. They prepared for the 2025 hatching season, scouring the beaches at night for turtle presence. Recently, teenagers playing on the beach reported a sighting of turtle eggs to the WTI volunteer group.

Environmentalists claim the degradation of the natural environment has causedOlive Ridleys to shun the district’s shoreline for a protracted period. The beaches here face peculiar environmental challenges, including an eroding shoreline and plastic pollution.

Moreover, turtle eggs left to hatch naturally faced existential threats, WTI volunteers say. For one, beachgoers could trample on them, and high tides could wash the eggs away. Moreover, poachers could take the eggs to sell in the black market for wild meat. 

Sajan John, a co-principal investigator of marine projects run by the WTI, says coastal development activities, including long seawalls, have denied turtles access to their traditional breeding grounds along Thiruvananthapuram’s shoreline. “Unseasonal rain can also play havoc with hatching. It can lower the ambient temperature, disrupting the incubation cycle,” Mr. John says. 

Hence, the WTI group has moved the eggs to a safe place on the beach and enlisted local residents to ensure their undisturbed safekeeping. Local fishermen have also volunteered to help the WTI. Many view Olive Ridley’s beaching again in Thiruvananthapuram as a preliminary indicator of the seas off the coast of Kerala regaining their environmental health.