Olive Ridleys Start Mass Nesting On Rushikulya Sea Beach In Odisha’s Ganjam

Berhampur: In a good news for wildlife activists, Olive Ridley sea turtles have started mass nesting on Rushikulya sea beach in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

Due to favourable weather conditions, the endangered Olive Ridleys came up to the beach from Podampeta village to Bateswar temple under Ganjam block of the district and started the nesting process by digging ditches and laying eggs there on Thursday. In a deviation from their annual activities on the beach, the Olive Ridleys started mass nesting in day time instead of night which has surprised the wildlife activists.

In order to protect the eggs during the incubation period in the ditches, the Forest officials have put up barricades in the area with plastic nets. The area has been divided into 50 segments and protection of each segment assigned to a team comprising Forest officials, volunteers and local villagers. A control room has also been set up for the entire process, official sources said.

Amlan Nayak, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur visited the nesting site to ensure the arrangement for protection of the nesting and hatching of the eggs on Thursday morning.

Rushikulya beach, which had reported highest 4,82,128 nests of Olive Ridleys in 2018, set a new record in 2022 when a record 5,50,317 nests were cited.