The Story So Far
1,400+ ghost nets and ghost gear fragments removed from the Indian ocean
812 entangled turtles reported:
57.5% juveniles, 19% females, 3.5% males and 20% unknown
89% olive ridleys
100 injured turtles treated at the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre:
77% olive ridleys
68% victims of ghost net, plastic, or marine debris entanglement
47 turtles successfully released
3,587+ sea turtles identified
23,089+ sea turtle sightings documented
The Olive Ridley Project, Registered Charity No 1165905 in England & Wales, was founded in 2013 in response to the large amounts of entangled Olive ridley sea turtles found in the Maldives, where this turtle species is particularly rare. Most encounters with this vulnerable sea turtle here are under stressful conditions; entangled in discarded fishing nets, also known as ghost nets, or floating injured on the surface.
ORP is on a mission to protect sea turtles and their habitats in the Indian Ocean. We do this through rescue and rehabilitation of injured sea turtles, research and education, and by actively removing ghost nets from the ocean and working on ways to reuse and reduce ghost gear.
Our community of volunteers and citizen scientists, environmentalists and Marine Biologists around the Indian Ocean are invaluable to ORP. Their contributions have so far been phenomenal.
In February 2017 we opened our Marine Turtle Rescue Centre in partnership with Coco Collection in Baa Atoll, Maldives. The first fully-equipped marine turtle rescue centre in Maldives has laboratory and surgical facilities as well as a full-time resident turtle veterinarian and can accommodate up to eight turtle patients at the time.