Visitors Barred From Entering Nesting Sites Of Olive Ridley Turtles In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Mass nesting sites of Olive Ridley sea turtles in Odisha will remain out of bounds for visitors till emergence of hatchlings, a notice issued by the office of the Principal CCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden said on Wednesday.

The mass nesting is likely to begin in the next few days after the mating season in deep sea, which usually takes place in November-December.

“It is seen that visitors going to mass nesting sites of Olive Ridley sea turtles for the purpose of observing the phenomena of nesting and hatchling emergence are using bright lights for observation and for photography / videography of the turtles. In some cases, inappropriate behaviour of visitors are observed. These activities together with crowding of the nesting sites would be disturbing the normal process of turtle nesting and hatchling emergence to great extent,” it said.

The notification further said that Olive Ridley sea turtle is protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and these activities come under the definition of ‘hunting’ as per provisions of Section-2(16) prohibited Under Section-9 of the said Act. “All the mass nesting sites of Olive Ridley sea turtles shall be closed for the visitors forthwith during the period of nesting till emergence of hatchlings is completed,” it added.

Millions of female Olive Ridley turtles throng Gahirmatha, Devi and Rushikulya river mouths in Odisha for mass nesting every year. About 6.37 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles had arrived for mass nesting at Rushikulya coast from February 23 to March 2 — which is treated as the mass nesting period — in 2023, setting a new record for the beach in Odisha’s Ganjam district. Another 503,719 turtles had laid eggs on the tranquil beaches of the sanctuary in Kendrapada district, the world’s largest rookery of sea turtles.

While the phenomenon is otherwise described as ‘arribada’, the hatchlings emerge from these eggs after 45-60 days.