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630,000 Olive Ridley turtles at Odisha’s Rushikulya beach for mass nesting
This is the highest number of Olive Ridleys for mass nesting for any particular year surpassing last year’s record of 5.5 lakh, said a forest official
More than 6.3 lakh female Olive Ridley sea turtles have arrived for mass nesting at Rushikulya sea beach this year, setting a new record for the beach in Odisha’s Ganjam district, forest officials said.
Forest officials said between February 23 and March 2, at least 6.37 lakh turtles thronged the Rushukulya beach where they scooped sand with their flippers before laying multiple eggs. “This is the highest number of Olive Ridleys for mass nesting for any particular year surpassing last year’s record of 5.5 lakh,” said Berhampur divisional forest officer Sunny Khokkar. The turtles laid their eggs over a 5km-long and 600 metre-wide beach.
A female Olive Ridley turtle usually lays about 120 to 150 eggs, from which hatchlings would emerge after 45 days. The beach recorded its first-ever mass nesting in 1994, 20 years after turtles researchers chanced upon Gahirmatha in Kendrapara district hosting mass nesting, also known as arribada (Spanish for mass nesting).
The DFO said the record number of nesting was probably due to the beaches remaining unaffected as there were no extreme weather events such as cyclone and heavy rain. In 2019 when cyclone Fani swept across Puri and southern coast, turtles had given the beach a miss. Incidentally, there were two mass nestings at Rushikulya in 2018 when the turtles came in February and April.
Khokkar said all required measures have been taken to protect the eggs in the rookery. Adequate number of personnel, including local people, has been engaged to keep a watch on the eggs from predators. Before the hatchlings emerge out of the eggs by April second week, the forest officials would cover the entire area with mosquito nets to protect them from birds.
Rushikulya is now the biggest mass nesting site in India overtaking Gahirmatha as geomorphological changes led to erosion of the beach. Apart from Rushikulya and Gahirmatha in Odisha, there are only four mass nesting sites in the world for the Ridleys: Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua and Suriname. Both the beaches in Odisha are ideal for mass nesting due to their offshore and onshore properties.
