Olive Ridley turtles make annual trip to Rushikulya Beach to lay eggs

An Olive Ridley turtle arrives to lay her eggs on the sand at Rushikulya Beach, some 140 kilometres south-west of Bhubaneswar. Thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles started to move ashore from India’s Bay of Bengal to lay their eggs in narrow beaches. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

Updated on: Feb 17, 2017 8:15 PM IST

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Published on Feb 17, 2017 8:15 PM

An Olive Ridley turtle arrives to lay her eggs on the sand at Rushikulya Beach, some 140 kilometres south-west of Bhubaneswar. Thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles started to move ashore from India’s Bay of Bengal to lay their eggs in narrow beaches. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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An Olive Ridley Turtle lays her eggs in the sand at Rushikulya Beach, some 140 kilometres south-west of Bhubaneswar. The beach is one of the three mass nesting sites in the state, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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A turtle digs a hollow in the sand as she prepares to lay her eggs at Rushikulya Beach. Also known as the Pacific Ridley sea turtle, or by its Latin name, Lepidochelys Olivacea, these turtles are best known for their behaviour of synchronised nesting in great numbers. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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Females return to the same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs, despite migrating hundreds, and often thousands of miles each year. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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Tourists take photographs of an Olive Ridley turtle. Turtle enthusiasts visit the beach to take a close look at the entire cycle of turtles arriving, laying eggs and then leaving. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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After laying the eggs, the turtles return to the sea. On an average, the turtles lay 110 eggs in a nest, and average between 2 to 8 nests per season. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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Despite being one of the most abundant species of turtles, the Olive Ridley turtles are still listed as endangered due to the continual threat to their existence. (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)

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Animal rights organisations and the government patrol the beaches to ensure that the turtles are protected from dogs, jackals, jungle cats and hyenas who try to attack the nests. T (ASIT KUMAR / AFP)