NEW RECORD! In a first, over 6 lakh Olive Ridley turtles lay eggs on Odisha beach

Bhubaneshwar, March 9 : In a significant development, Rushikulya shore in Odisha’s Ganjam district has seen a record-breaking 6.37 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles arrive for mass nesting, breaking the previous record of 5.5 lakh.

As per Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer Sunny Khokkar, the development of new beaches for egg-laying close to the Podampetta region was the reason behind the arrival of 6.37 lakh turtles from February 23 to March 2, which is considered the peak nesting time.

Khokkar said, this year, the beaches remained unaffected as there were no extreme weather events such as cyclones and heavy rain and turtles ascended perfectly sloped beaches at the Rushikulya river mouth. Last year, 5.5 lakh Olive Ridley turtles had come to Rushikulya for mass nesting.

“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.