Olive Ridley turtles begin nesting for 2nd time at Rushikulya

Endangered Olive Ridley turtles took to the Rushikulya rookery on the Odisha coast to nest for the second time this season even as hatchlings emerging from the eggs laid in the first phase are heading towards the sea which is unusual, forest officials said.

The last time this twice-a-year nesting happened was in 2011, Asish Kumar Behera, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Berhampur, said.

Around 5,000 Olive Rridley turtles crawled up to the beach from Gokharakuda to Podampet and around 500 of them laid eggs yesterday.

"We are expecting more turtles to lay eggs in this phase," Behera said.

Olive Ridley turtles had also laid eggs for a second time in the same rookery in 2006 and 2011, he said.

 

But in the earlier cases, the second phase of nesting had occurred when the eggs from the first phase were still in the pits dug for them, he said.

This time, it has begun while hatchlings are heading towards the sea.

"It is a good sign. Scientists must study this phenomenon," the DFO said.

Professor Vibhash Pandav of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun said, "While two phases of nesting are not unusual, what is interesting is that the turtles turned up this year after a gap.

"Earlier, they would regularly turn up for nesting twice, once in November-December and again in February-March."

In the first phase that took place in the last week of February this year, more than 4.45 lakh Olive Ridleys - a record number - laid eggs on the five-kilometre stretch of the beach between Podampeta to Bateswar, near the mouth of the Rushikulya river.

Hatchlings began emerging last week.

"The process is on and will continue for some more days," the DFO said.

Adequate measures have been taken by the forest department to ensure the safety of the hatchlings, the DFO said.