Kendrapara,(Odisha) Mar 7 : Over 1.92 lakh Olive Ridley Sea turtles have laid eggs on Nasi-2, the largest rookery of this endangered species, within Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary over the last 48 hours, Rajnagar Mangrove (Forest) and Wildlife Division DFO Sudarshan Gopinath Jadav said on Friday.
The arribada (a Spanish term for mass nesting) of the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles began at Nasi-2 of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary on the evening of March 5 and is expected to continue for another four to five days, Jadav stated.
According to DFO Jadav, while 78,743 female turtles laid eggs on March 5, approximately 1,14,002 female Olive Ridley turtles nested on March 6. The female turtles move toward the beaches in large, synchronized groups. Each Olive Ridley sea turtle lays around 100 to 120 eggs at a time.
They dig 45-centimeter-deep pits, about two to three feet long, using their rear flippers to lay their eggs. After depositing the eggs, the female turtles cover the nests with sand and return to the sea in a zigzag manner to confuse predators about the nest locations.
Hatchlings emerge from the eggs after 45 to 55 days and instinctively make their way to the sea, creating a cacophony. This is one of nature’s rare phenomena, where baby turtles grow without any maternal care, the DFO said.
With the DRDO prohibiting visitors, only a handful of forest personnel on turtle protection duty have been deployed at the beach to witness this unique natural event.
Turtle nests have been counted segment-wise on Nasi-II Beach. Forest personnel have divided Nasi-II into 24 segments for counting nests and assigned 30 forest officials to monitor the nests in each segment every hour. Each segment covers a 100-meter width, said Manas Kumar Das, the ACF of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.
To protect the nests, forest personnel have installed fencing to prevent canines from entering Nasi-II. Additional measures have been taken to guard the nesting grounds from predators like crows and eagles, ACF Das stated.
During low tide, feral dogs from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) facility on Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island often stray onto the golden beaches of Nasi-II after crossing water bodies to feast on turtle eggs.
It is encouraging to see that mass nesting has commenced this season, despite some portions of Nasi-II Beach being eroded due to Cyclonic Storm “Dana” and the high tides of the turbulent sea. Although the eroded part of the beach has yet to fully recover, the endangered turtles have once again demonstrated that Nasi-II Island remains their preferred nesting site, ACF Das said.
Last year, around 3.10 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles came ashore en masse to the golden beach of Nasi-II within Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, laying eggs within a span of five days from April 2.
Odisha PCCF Prem Kumar Jha, in a post on his X handle, stated, “Olive Ridley arribada has commenced at Gahirmatha, the world’s largest rookery, following a record-breaking 6.98 lakh mass nesting at Rushikulya. This marks another significant milestone in Odisha’s ongoing marine conservation efforts.”(UNI)
