As many as 231 endangered olive ridley turtles born in the artificial hatchery run by the forest department at Kodiakarai near here, were today let into the sea.
Kodiakarai and Vedaranyam attract a large number of olive ridley sea turtles every year during the nesting season, which begins in December and continues till March. The female ridleys travel towards the coast to lay eggs.
Olive Ridleys have been classified as an endangered species and the Nagapattinam wildlife department has set up a hatchery at Kodiakarai to hatch the eggs artificially. The young ones that come out are then put in the sea.
The life span of ridleys ranges from 60 to 300 years, department sources said.
The Forest Department, which has set up egg collection centres at six points in Vedaranyam, had gathered 6,000 eggs this year, sources added.
