Record-Breaking Mass Nesting of Olive Ridleys at Rushikulya Rookery Coast

Berhampur: Around 5,57,880 mother Olive Ridley turtles have laid eggs in the 5-km stretch of the mass nesting beach from Podampeta village to Bateswar temple in Ganjam district this year. This breaks the earlier mass nesting record set last year, said forest officials.

In 2022, during the mass nesting season, around 5.5 lakh Olive Ridleys had laid eggs in 8 days at this mass nesting site. So, forest officials feel, this year’s mass nesting number may exceed 6 lakh at this beach. Mass nesting of Olive Ridleys is still continuing at Rushikulya rookery coast.

On the first day of mass nesting of this season, around 1.5 lakh turtles laid eggs on the beach near Rushikulya river mouth. Between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, 92,523 turtles laid eggs.

Fifty-five Olive Ridley turtles, which were tagged on the Odisha coast during the past two years, have returned back to the Rushikulya river mouth to lay eggs this year.

This year Olive Ridleys are opting for mass nesting even during the daytime on this coast. Usually, the mass nesting of these endangered marine turtles occurs at night.

Forest department has made all security arrangements for the protection of nests and safe hatching of the Olive Ridley eggs. To protect the Olive ridley nests and the eggs in them forest department has barricaded the whole area with nets. No outsiders including tourists are allowed to enter the region.

The whole mass nesting stretch of the Rushikulya rookery coast has been divided into 50 segments and each section is under the supervision of a team comprising Forest officials, volunteers, and local villagers. A control room has also been set up to monitor the entire process.