News Excerpt:

Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) will pause missile testing at Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) off the Odisha coast during the mass nesting season of Olive Ridley Sea turtles from January to March next year to ensure the endangered species wins the race for survival.

More about the news: 

• Missile testing, mechanised boats, and the movement of people adversely impact the mass nesting and breeding of sea turtles off the island. Around five lakh Olive Ridleys nested there this year.
• The committee highlighted the need to issue advisories to organisations, institutions, and industrial houses along the coast to stick to outdoor lighting regulations.

About Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island):

• Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island is a continental Island off the coast of Odisha state, located in the Bay of Bengal.
• The island is located offshore of Bhitarkanika National Park.
• It is an Integrated Test Range Missile Testing Facility in India. 
• The island was formerly known as Wheeler Island, after the English commandant Lieutenant Wheeler. 
• On 4 September 2015, the island was renamed to honour the late Indian President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

• Biodiversity and Conservation:

• Flora - Mangrove with associates, seagrass and other species
• Fauna - Marine crustaceans, molluscs, fishes and sea bird
• Type of forest - Mangrove (on the West and Northwest of the island)

About the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO):

• DRDO is the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India. 
• A vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems.
• While equipping our armed forces with state-of-the-art weapon systems and equipment in accordance with requirements laid down by the three Services.

About Olive Ridley Sea Turtle:

• They get their name from the colouring of their heart-shaped shell, which starts out grey but becomes olive green once the turtles are adults. 
• The olive ridley is found in the tropical regions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. 
• In the Pacific, it prefers the beaches of Mexico south to Colombia.
• In the Indian Ocean, its greatest abundance is in eastern India and Sri Lanka.
• Only a small and declining population of Olive Ridleys nest in the western Atlantic along the western coast of Africa.
• In the Indian Ocean, three arribada beaches occur in Odisha, India (Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth, and Rushikulya) with an estimated +100,000 nests per year. 
• More recently, a new mass nesting site was discovered in the Andaman Islands, India, with more than 5,000 nests reported in a season.
• Its IUCN-vulnerable status comes from the fact that they nest in a very small number of places, and therefore any disturbance to even one nest beach could have huge repercussions on the entire population.