Berhampur: Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati Sunday witnessed the mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles.
During his visit to Ganjam district to inspect different development projects, Kambhampati, along with his wife Jayasree, visited Sipakuda near the Rushikulya River mouth early in the morning and witnessed thousands of hatchlings emerging from sandy pits and crawling towards the sea.
He was apparently amazed to see the baby turtles break out of their eggs and crawl towards the sea without parental care.
Female Olive Ridley turtles return to the deep sea after laying eggs in the rookery, while hatchlings emerge after 50 days.
“Visited Sipakuda in Ganjam district, a key nesting site for the endangered Olive Ridley turtles. Witnessing the mass nesting and hatching truly awe-inspiring experience,” the Governor said in a post on X. (sic)
During his visit, he reviewed conservation efforts with local officials and emphasised the importance of community involvement to ensure the species’ long-term survival.
He also praised the dedication of the district administration, forest staffers and local volunteers for their work in protecting the species.
Mass hatching of the Olive Ridley turtles in the rookery started on Thursday along a five-km stretch of the beach from Podampeta to Bateswar, near Ganjam town.
The mass hatching is expected to continue for the next two to three days, Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sunny Khokkar said.
Though the exact number of hatchlings emerging from the sandy beach has not yet been estimated by the forest officials, they, however, expected a record number of hatching as a record 9 lakh Olive Ridley turtles laid eggs in the rookery.
While 6,98,698 Olive Ridley turtles had laid eggs on the beach in the first phase of mass nesting from February 16 to 23, over 2.05 lakh turtles had laid eggs along the same stretch in the second phase of mass nesting from March 22 to 27.
Elaborate protection measures have been taken to save the baby turtles, while local volunteers have extended their helping hands to the forest staffers, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Khallikote range, Dibya Sankar Behera, said.
Volunteers were seen collecting baby turtles, which lost their way on the beach and released them into the sea.
PTI
