Since a main area of concern is the effects of dredging with regards to the nesting ground for the Olive Ridley Turtle in Orrisa I would like to discuss with you readers the findings and the operation modification of the dredging plans at Cape Canaveral and how this would help us in Orrisa. Of course my readers are aware of the fact that over 1.7 Lac turtles nested on the beaches of Gahirmatha and have had a safe nesting in spite of the dredging work. The Sea Turtle/Dredging Task Force in USA offered suggestions which were very effective in the process of protecting the turtles.
Restricting dredging to a season when turtles are least abundant or least likely to be affected was one of many alternatives that have been implemented. They designated September through November as the best time for dredging based on the turtle’s seasonal density trends and the presence of gravid females during the summer nesting season. Similarly at Dhamra all the maintenance dredging will happen in the non-nesting season. Other measures were used at the Cape Canaveral were to turn off the draghead pumps when the daragram was raised or lowered. According to the climate and sand and silt type the safest and most efficient dredgers and draghead type were selected and used at the site to avoid and minimize any loss to the sea turtles. Various options were tried for the deflectors for Draghead and the most effective and flexible design was approved. The Dhamra port is also following the best suited method and machines and in addition will be dredging along a naturally deep alignment.
The authorities at Cape Canaveral also had to tackle issue of relocating turtles by various method of using trawlers or baiting or a dispersal technique to move the turtles away from the channel. Fortunately this is not necessary at the Dhamra port as the actual port is 30kms from the nesting site, even this year’s arribada occurred at the rivers southern beaches of Nasi 1 and Nasi 2 and the port is towards the north of the river.
In the USA Each Corps District is required by the Endangered Species Act to conduct literature or biological surveys before every dredging project to document any endangered species presence in the area of dredging and determine the potential impacts related to the dredging activities. To be true to marine life and human life we need a balanced approach especially by ‘Green Monster’ they should not be allowed by you and me to spread mis-information and create roadblocks for companies or individuals going about their usual business. If you ask me the name ‘Greenpeace’ is big enough to evoke instant trust, a trust they should realize once broken in India will result in them losing the support of our people. Even the better and honest efforts by their organization will be looked at with doubt.