Hatching Traits

The study is a pioneering effort for sea turtle research and conservation in Karwar, Karnataka, India. I conducted this study as part of my Masters dissertation in Marine Biology between the years 2000 and 2002.The nesting species found through our field survey was the olive ridley turtle.Our first sighting was during a night survey along the Devbag beach of Karwar, and a clutch of 64 eggs was found laid by the turtle near the ipomea-pes-caprae. From a conservation perspective-as these are consumed by the local community- the 64 eggs, and several other clutches salvaged from the fish market, were relocated into a hatchery on the Devbag beach. Low hatching rates from these clutches resulted in the investigation of environmental factors that influenced the hatching success.The environmental variables included
temperature(soil), nest depth, moisture, and sand type.

The hatchlings that emerged from the clutches were also reared for three months both from a research and conservation perspective. Feeding patterns, behavior towards light during release, and other parameters (not detailed in the paper) were recorded in this study.

To date there have been just few studies of sea turtles along Karnataka's coast, and this has been an important study. Although the paper could not afford detailed acknowledgements due to limits prescribed for text size, I would like to acknowledge a few names here: Mr.B.K Dikshit-District Forest Officer of Karwar, and RFO, Mr.D 'Souza, who I sought permission for work on turtles (the permission was granted despite the fact  they had no evidence if sea turtles visited Karwar coast). Eventually as I submitted proof of sea turtle eggs on sale in the Karwar market, and the nesting turtle on Devbag beach, they joined in the effort enthusiastically, by offering facilities such as a hatchery for relocation of turtle nests, and a steel tank to raise hatchlings. There were also other staff who were extremely helpful with my work ; Dr.Rajgopalan, a sea turtle researcher himself,and Senior Scientist from the Central Marine Fisheries, in 2003, allowed me the privilege of being a resource person, and presenting my work during the GOI-UNDP-WII-CMFRI organized turtle workshop in Cochin, happening after a gap of 20 years, since the last held in the 1980's. After my presentation in the workshop, Dr. Kartik Shanker who was a participant and resource person, invited me to share this work in his publication- Kachhappa. Dr. Shanker took much pains to review the report, and got it to good shape, the form you are now reading :).

This study was a major beginning in my turtle story, and the support and nurturing efforts provided by these wonderful people have come a long way in sustaining my turtle career until today.

The aim of the research was to determine whether enrichment of the atmosphere in an incubator with carbon dioxide (CO 2) and oxygen (O 2) and eggshell thickness (EST) affected embryonic death (ED), hatchability of fertile eggs (HFE) and hatching time (HT). A total of 320 Ross 308 eggs were used and the experiment was repeated twice. Eggshell thickness was classified as thin (<31 μm), medium (31-32 μm) and thick (>32 μm). The incubators were operated with their internal atmosphere enriched with CO 2 (1.57% CO 2 ; 20.23% O 2) or O 2 (0.50% CO 2 ; 22.44% O 2). Embryonic death, HFE and HT data were monitored at three periods, namely early (<486 hours), middle (486-492 hours), and late (492-510 hours). Early ED, late ED and hatchability of fertile eggs were not affected by EST or by the incubator's internal atmosphere (P >0.05). Thus, O 2 supplementation to the incubator was deemed unnecessary at 822 m altitude. There was a highly significant interaction between EST and HT. Eggs with shells 31 to 32 µm thick hatched at an appreciably greater rate between 486 and 492 hours of incubation (17%) than eggs with thicker (0.6%) or thinner (0.4%) shells in both the CO 2 and O 2 enriched atmospheres. The hatching rate was significantly higher in the eggs with an intermediate EST than in thick-shelled eggs. A greater proportion of eggs hatched at the late HT as opposed to earlier, regardless of EST. ______________________________________________________________________________________

A 31 year-old woman had a single embryo transfer on day 3 after assisted hatching (AH) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection
(ICSI) treatment. Ultrasound examination performed 6 weeks after oocyte retrieval revealed a triplet pregnancy combining
monochorionic diamniotic twins and a singleton. If zygote splitting resulting in monochorionic triamniotic triplets
following IVF has already been described, this case is about an incredibly rare phenomenon after single embryo transfer.
Naturally, a concurrent spontaneous conception cannot be excluded. To our knowledge, this is the first time a dichorionic
triplet pregnancy after single embryo transfer is reported.
Keywords: Triplet Pregnancy; Dichorio-Triamniotic; Single Embryo Transfer; Assisted Hatching; Concurrent Natural Conception.