Raindance 33 Film Festival- The Vue, Lower Regent Street, London. UK

Taira Malaney’s Turtle Walker, a 2024 heartwarming documentary film produced over seven years, presenting a  lovely portrait life of a curious conservationist, Satish Bhaskar, who lived alongside rare sea turtles for 19 years to unravel the mysteries that surround them in the late 1970s. The life of Satish Bhaskar born in Vypeen, Kochi, Kerala, southern India, is addressed following his conservationist investigation, when he ventured to the spectacular Andaman and Nicobar Islands and other surrounding islands for turtle surveys which actually saved these sea turtles from extinction, as most turtle’s eggs were victims of ruthless poachers. The film depicts turtles laying eggs and recording the hatching of baby turtles at night and watching them scurry away in their tiny flippers towards the vast ocean for their first swim. Baskar’s dedicated journey spanning 7, 516 km of coastline which he walked researching and monitoring into these vulnerable turtles. His surveys and studies recording India’s nest nesting beaches for three species of marine turtles- leatherback, Hawksbill and green turtles. The green turtle is the most common and extensive species throughout both island groups with 83 nestling beaches in the Andamans.

Satish Bhaskar carrying a Canon film camera and a notepad, documented turtles’ nesting areas and tried to save them from extinction. The December 2004 earthquake and tsunami struck in the Indian ocean, and destroyed the coastline and the shore topography was severely altered in most of these islands putting all his work and the turtles he loved so much in jeopardy. 

Leatherback turtles 6feet in length, is the largest sea turtle and is distinguished by its distinctive soft, leathery shell. Between January and April, the leatherback turtles in Andaman & Nicobar islands, Little Andaman, Little Nicobar and Great Nicobar in the northeastern Indian Ocean, lay their eggs on the various beaches around Neil Island and Rangat Island. The Nicobar group hosts about 1, 000 nests annually. Leatherbacks prefer wide, sandy beaches for nesting unlike other sea turtle species.

These are enchanting stories of Satish finding finding himself solo for more than five months research and sending letter in bottles including “note” to ask for someone to come and take him back home to his wife Brenda. One such letter arrived in Sri Lankan shores which contained enough details for the recipient to send it on to his wife in south India who arranged for him to be collected. This is story of devotion t his work and on the conservation and treatment of turtles of which there are many species.

Amid current trend towards promoting fisheries and tourism in the region, poor awareness and sensitivity to conservation issues, these islands are potentially on the cusp of  changes that could have ecological impacts particularly to marine turtles and their habitats.

Composers Sheridan Tongue and Nainita Desai provided extraordinary background music for Turtle Walker.