Berhampur: It was a sight to behold for the conservationists and forest personnel when thousands of Olive Ridley turtles started arriving at the Rushikulya river mouth in Odisha's Ganjam district earlier this week, almost after a one-year hiatus, to lay eggs simultaneously.
This mass nesting, known as arribada, is an annual phenomenon which usually continues for about a week to 10 days. From the deep sea, the turtles make way to the shore late at night, lay their eggs, bury those safely in the sand, and return to the sea by sunrise. The forest department has implemented extensive measures to ensure the safety of these eggs during the incubation period. Once the eggs hatch in around 45 days, the forest department ensures the hatchlings are safe from predators until they crawl to safe zone into the waters.
Every year, these endangered marine species, known for their synchronised nesting, wait for favourable weather conditions before emerging from the deep sea. At the rookery, each Olive Ridley turtle, using the hind legs, digs holes about 1.5 feet deep in the sand, and lays around 120-160 eggs each. Once they are done, they carefully bury the holes before heading back to the sea. The egg-laying period of turtles is expected to last around 45 minutes, while the eggs possibly hatch in around 45-50 days.
Last year, although the Olive Ridley turtles did turn up at the Rushikulya river mouth, mass nesting did not take place, possibly due to climate change and several other reasons, raising concerns among environmentalists and the forest department. However, this year, hopes have rekindled as turtles have turned up in large numbers, with mass nesting underway in full swing without any natural or human interference.
Rabindranath Sahu, secretary of Rushikulya Samudrika Kaincha Surakhya Samiti (Sea Turtle Protection Committee), believes this year's nesting numbers could set a record in the 32-year history of conservation efforts at the site.
On the first day of the mass nesting, around 11,390 turtles laid eggs in the 4-km stretch of the rookery, while the number surged to 79,000 on the second day. So far, around 6.5 lakh turtles have arrived at Rushikulya for nesting, which is an all-time record, said a senior forest official. It is expected that there will be record-breaking nesting numbers this year, with figures reaching around 7.5-8 lakh.
As per official data of the forest department, in 2016-17, 3,70,000 Olive Ridley turtles had come for mass nesting, while in 2017-18 and 2019-20, 4,82,000 and 3,23,000 turtles laid eggs at the rookery, respectively. In 2021-22, the number of nesting turtles stood at 5.50 lakh, and it went up to 6.37 lakh in 2022-23. There was no mass nesting of the turtles at the river mouth in 2021 and 2024 as fewer turtles had arrived during the season.
Stepping up the protection measures in the zone, forest department officials have taken extensive measures to ensure the safety of the eggs and hatchlings. As per sources, there is 24-hour patrolling along the nesting sites, proper beach fencing, with a total of 20-km stretch being declared as no-fishing and no-plastic zone.
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