Ganjam: The mouth of river Rushikulya near Purunabandh village here is now buzzing with activity as Olive Ridley turtles have started mating, a report said.
The river mouth is known as the nesting site of the rare turtles. The turtles travel thousands of miles through the sea to come here for mating and laying eggs.
Environmentalists said the mating of the sea turtles started a little late this year.
The mating starts in the second week of November usually at a distance of 18 to 20 km off the coast. However, this year only a few turtles were seen mating and it finally registered a jump this month, Khallikote Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Dillip Martha said.
Expressing concern, forest officials have declared the area extending from Prayagi in the north to Aryapalli in the south as a prohibited zone, and have banned the entry of visitors.
Forest officials are also keeping tabs on trawlers, and have set up a 10-member team for that, Rambha DFO Somanath Mallick said.
The Coastguard and other security personnel have been deployed on the shores to provide a peaceful atmosphere to the marine turtles during their mating season, he said.
Mallick said the turtles could be seen floating in the sea about four km from the shore. The turtles were mating near the shore for hours together and the process will continue for months.
The mass nesting of turtles will start when the winds start blowing south from February, the forest official said.
Olive Ridley turtles travel thousands of miles from as far as the coasts of Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Japan to mate and lay eggs at the mouth of Rushikulya. Female turtles lay around 140 to 160 eggs, and it takes 40-50 days for the hatchlings to come out of eggshells.
IANS