Kendrapara, March 13: The nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles has started at Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary since last Thursday with 69,723 turtles having laid eggs at the nesting beach of Nasi-II till Friday. “The mass nesting phenomenon would continue at the Golden beach for nearly a week,” said Bimal Prasanna Acharya, DFO of Rajnagar mangrove Forest.
Forest personnel have taken all precautionary measures to provide a congenial atmosphere for the turtles to lay eggs en-masse. “Forest personnel have been deployed to prevent predators from destroying the laid eggs at Nasi-II,” Subrat Patra, Ranger of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, said.
Earlier, forest officials expected that the mass nesting might have not occur like last year at the Nasi II beach due to its shrinkage. They thought that if nesting happened, it would either be at the Nasi-1 beach or at Ekakula as sporadic nesting was going on more here than at Nasi-II beach. However, proving forest officials wrong and to their pleasant surprise, the turtles selected Nasi-II beach for laying eggs en-masse.
Female Olive Ridley sea turtles lay 100-120 eggs at a go. They lay their eggs at midnight in pits which they dig with their rear flippers. After laying the eggs, the female turtles cover the nests with sand and return to the sea in a zigzag manner to confuse predators about the location of the nests. After laying eggs, they get back into the deep sea water. Hatchlings emerge from these eggs after 45-60 days and find their way to the sea, creating a cacophony.
Sources said the forest department has decided not to do live web telecast of the mass nesting at Gahirmatha considering the coastal security aspect as Nasi-II is near the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Also, live telecast during night may disturb the nesting of turtles.PNN
