Berhampur: A record number of 5,50,317 Olive Ridley sea turtles have laid eggs in Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district this year.
The mass nesting of these endangered sea turtles began on March 27 night and lasted till morning of April 3, according to Amlan Nayak, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur. The eggs are expected to hatch in about 45 days after the mass nesting.
Rushikulya beach, which had reported highest 4,82,128 nests of Olive Ridleys in 2018, set a new record this year. On day one of the mass nesting this year, 40,533 Ridleys laid their eggs. It was 1,14,305 on the second day, 87,300 on third day, 85,747 on fourth day, 94,867 on fifth day, 67,974 on sixth day, 45,963 on seventh day and 12,079 on the eighth and last day.
The official figure of mass nesting is 2.01 lakh in 2004, 89,311 in 2005, 1.98 lakhs in 2006, 74 in 2007, 1.80 lakh in 2008, 2.61 lakh in 2009, 1.56 lakh in 2010, 2.53 lakh in 2011, 1.01 lakh in 2012, 2.88 lakh in 2013, 59 thousand in 2014, 3.09 lakh in 2015, 1712 in 2016, 3.70 lakh in 2017, 4.82 lakhs in 2018, 2341 in 2019, 3.23 lakhs in 2020 and 4388 in 2021.
The entire beach has been divided into 50 segments to coordinate and facilitate safety of the sea turtles for the mass nesting and hatching of eggs. A control room has also been set up for the entire process, official sources said.
