Kendrapara: Forest personnel of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary came across nests of Olive Ridley sea turtles during the ongoing turtle season as nearly two dozens of nests were spotted on the beaches of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, Bikash Ranjan Dash, DFO of Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) and Wildlife Division, said.
The forest personnel hoped that the mass nesting phenomenon of the endangered marine turtles would occur in the first week of March. Meanwhile, lakhs of Olive Ridley sea turtles congregated nearly 4 km off the sea coast, Dash said.
High tides during severe cyclonic storm Fani had eroded a portion of the beach on its northern side which has proved a favourite nesting place for these sea turtles. Lakhs of turtles come here for laying eggs on the sea beach.
About 300 to 500 metres of area on the northern side of Nasi-2 was eroded during Fani. The sandy beach of Nasi-II was further eroded by the cyclonic storm Bulbul. Thus the length of the beach has been reduced. Due to the shrinking of beach, fewer number of Olive Ridley turtles were expected to come to Nasi II. It was also feared that due to shortage of space, there would be over-layering and several nests would be destroyed during mass nesting Dash said.
The mortality rate of the species is so high that one egg out of every 1000 eggs laid hatches and the hatchling survives. The Marine Fishery Department has imposed a ban on fishing inside the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary around 20 km off the shore from November 1, 2019, to May 31, 2020.
PNN