Rushikulya shore in Odisha sees a record-breaking 6.37 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles arrive for mass nesting

A record-breaking 6.37 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles arrived at Rushikulya coast in Odisha’s Ganjam district this year, shattering the previous record of 5.5 lakh.

The creation of new beaches for egg-laying adjacent to the Podampetta region, according to Sunny Khokkar, the divisional forest officer for Berhampur, who talked to The Hindu, was the cause of the arrival of 6.37 lakh turtles from February 23 to March 2, which is considered the prime nesting period.

This year, according to Khokkar, the beaches were undisturbed by extreme weather because there were no cyclones or deluges, and turtles ascended the perfectly graded beaches at the Rushikulya river mouth. Olive Ridley turtles made their way to Rushikulya last year in large numbers to lay their eggs.

‘The actual number of Olive Ridleys coming to Rushikulya river mouth would go up as turtles keep coming to the coast after March 2. We are currently counting the number of turtles received during sporadic nesting witnessed after March 2,’ he said. The forest division has stepped up its supervision to prevent turtle mortality by deploying forest officials.