Kendrapara: The birth of baby turtles sans mothers at the Gahirmatha beach off the Bay of Bengal coast has left wildlife lovers elated.

Over 10 lakh hatchlings have broken out of eggshells since past 72 hours and crawled towards the sea. The emergence of baby turtles marks the culmination of olive ridley's annual sojourn along the state's coast - the world's largest nesting ground of these aquatic animals - at the Gahirmatha beach.

"The emergence of hatchlings which began three days ago would last for at least for seven to 10 days. The number of babies would swell considerably in the coming days," said Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) divisional forest officer Prasanna Kumar Acharya. Around 6.67 lakh turtles had congregated at the nesting beach in March last.

The Nasi-II island is teeming with the baby turtles, and the wildlife officials of Bhitarkanika National Park stationed at these nesting grounds were sole witness to this natural heritage, said forest officials. Tourists and researchers were denied entry to the beach keeping in view the fact that the unmanned island is located near the Wheeler's island defence test range centre, a prohibited territory.

After the eggs are incubated under natural process, the hatchlings come out after 45 to 55 days' hiatus.

The nesting beaches at the idyllic island free from human interference also happen to be the most congenial and conducive spots for the turtles' mass nesting. But of late, the beaches are facing sea erosion, which is adversely affecting the ideal turtle habitat.

The mortality rate of hatchlings is exceedingly high as one out of a thousand survives the life cycle to grow into an adult.