TV
Endangered Olive Ridley turtles have reappeared at Eakakulanasi island in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha for mass nesting after a gap of 33 years, an official said.
"The idyllic beach on the island had undergone sea erosion, leading to the beach profile getting truncated. However, the beach is currently elongated as it has started accreting since 2020. This has turned out conducive for turtles to turn up en masse to lay eggs," Assistant Conservator of Forests Manas Das said.
Das said the marine species had last appeared at the beach in 1992 when 3 lakh turtles had laid eggs.
"It's an exceedingly positive development in the turtle protection initiative that is underway under the stewardship of Odisha Forest Department," he said.
The profile of the Ekakulanasi beach, which was around 4 km long earlier, has now been elongated to 8 km following the natural process of accretion, which is a process of sediments returning to the beach. The nesting beach played host to 1.7 lakh turtles over the last two days, he said.
The beach, aside from Nasi-2 beach, has become a preferred nesting site, an official stated, adding that 2.63 lakh turtles have arrived at Nasi-2 beach to dig pits and lay their eggs.
Every year, millions of Olive Ridley turtles gather for mass nesting along the Odisha coast. Gahirmatha beach in Kendrapara district is recognised as the world’s largest known nesting site for these turtles.
In addition to Gahirmatha, these threatened marine creatures also arrive for mass nesting at the Rushikulya river mouth and the Devi river mouth.
After egg-laying, the turtles leave the nesting ground to stride into the sea waters. Hatchlings emerge from these eggs after 45-50 days.
It is a rare natural phenomenon where the babies grow without their mother, the official added.
