Berhampur: Thousands of baby Olive Ridley sea turtles have started to emerge from sandy pits on the coast near the Rushikulya river mouth in Odisha’s Ganjam district and crawl towards the sea.
People were delighted to watch the endangered species of sea turtles venturing into the sea in unison after emerging from the numerous nests that were dug by female turtles to lay eggs near the river mouth.
Sources said the seaward journey of the baby turtles commenced on Saturday night. Mass hatching of Olive Ridley sea turtles had started in time this year and is likely to continue for four to five days, a forest officer said.
Adequate measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the baby turtles, said divisional forest officer (DFO) Sunny Khokkar in Berhampur.
An all-time high 6.37 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles had laid eggs in a three-km-long stretch from Podampeta to Bateshwar near the river mouth during the eight-day duration of mass nesting from February 23 to March 3 this year.
“As a record number of Olive Ridley sea turtles laid eggs and the weather condition was good, we expect a sizeable number of baby turtles to emerge from the eggs this time,” PTI quoted him as saying.
Around 100 to 150 eggs are laid by each female turtle during the mass nesting period. After laying eggs, the turtles return to the sea without waiting to see the baby turtles.
Local people have teamed up with the forest officials to protect the hatchlings, while the forest officials fenced off the area with mosquito nets.
“We have fenced off the entire area to prevent the entry of predators like wild dogs, jackals, hyenas etc,” the DFO said.
Patrolling in the sea beach was also intensified to protect the baby turtles from crows and kites. He said around 60 forest personnel along with some villagers are in the area to protect the baby turtles.
The volunteers collected some of the hatchlings, who had diverted from their path on the beach, and released them into the sea.
