Record number of Olive Ridley sea turtles come ashore for mass nesting

A record number of around 2,45,188 Olive Ridley sea turtles came ashore for mass nesting at the Nasi-1 and Nasi-2 islands of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary within Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha on March 25 night. Last time around 3,49,694 turtles laid eggs between March 9 to March 23, said Dr Yajnadatta Pati, the divisional forest officer of Bhitarkanika National Park. He said that about 30 forest officials including forest guards are guarding the beach to protect turtles and their eggs. The state government has imposed a ban on fishing activities inside the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary from Nov 1 to May 31 to protect the turtles. Having a life-span of up to 100 years, the turtles are essentially migratory but during the breeding season, the females come to the shore, burrow 12-20 inches deep holes in the dry sand and lay around 100-150 eggs there. However, the survival rate is very low, barely 1 per cent (or, only one out of 100 survive) as the eggs or hatchlings are devoured by various terrestrial and aerial predators, necessitating their conservation. Sea turtles are essential to enable a balanced ocean ecosystem as they keep the sea waters clean by consuming dead fish and seagrass.