Mass nesting of Olive Ridleys continues near river mouth | Bhubaneswar News
Berhampur: Despite rain, Olive Ridley sea turtles continued their second phase of mass nesting near the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district for the second day.
A total 39,521 Olive Ridley turtles laid eggs on the beach in the past 12 hours till 6 pm on Sunday, forest officials said. On Saturday, 38,779 turtles had laid eggs along the stretch from Purunabandh to Bateswar near the river mouth.
“We saw the Olive Ridley turtles climb on the beach and lay eggs by digging pits near the river mouth despite rain,” said Dibya Shankar Behera, assistant conservator of forests (ACF) and in-charge of Khallikote range.
“There are instances of mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles during rain in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, considered the world’s biggest rookery,” said Basudev Tripathy, senior scientist of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and a turtle expert.
“Rain during summer generally reaches less deep in the sand. Thus, turtles didn’t feel difficult to dig out the pits,” he said. He predicted the mass nesting of turtles would continue for three to four days near the river mouth.
A total of 6,98,718 Olive Ridley turtles had laid eggs in the first phase of mass nesting from Feb 16 to 23.
“Good weather and beach conditions are some of the reasons for the record number of Olive Ridley turtles nesting at Rushikulya rookery,” said the ACF. “The area was totally fenced and no one was allowed to enter the mass nesting sites. We have taken adequate measures to protect the turtles and eggs,” he added.
A total 39,521 Olive Ridley turtles laid eggs on the beach in the past 12 hours till 6 pm on Sunday, forest officials said. On Saturday, 38,779 turtles had laid eggs along the stretch from Purunabandh to Bateswar near the river mouth.
“We saw the Olive Ridley turtles climb on the beach and lay eggs by digging pits near the river mouth despite rain,” said Dibya Shankar Behera, assistant conservator of forests (ACF) and in-charge of Khallikote range.
“There are instances of mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles during rain in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, considered the world’s biggest rookery,” said Basudev Tripathy, senior scientist of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and a turtle expert.
“Rain during summer generally reaches less deep in the sand. Thus, turtles didn’t feel difficult to dig out the pits,” he said. He predicted the mass nesting of turtles would continue for three to four days near the river mouth.
A total of 6,98,718 Olive Ridley turtles had laid eggs in the first phase of mass nesting from Feb 16 to 23.
“Good weather and beach conditions are some of the reasons for the record number of Olive Ridley turtles nesting at Rushikulya rookery,” said the ACF. “The area was totally fenced and no one was allowed to enter the mass nesting sites. We have taken adequate measures to protect the turtles and eggs,” he added.
