Berhampur: Mass nesting of the endangered olive ridley turtles has started at the Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district since Tuesday night, said divisional forest officer Ashis Kumar Behera.

It may continue for another seven days, he said.

After a record-breaking mass nesting of the marine amphibians last year pegged at 3,70,633, this time the forest department extended the 5-ft-high and 3.5-km-long net fencing to another 1km. Earlier, the fencing had been laid from Purunabandha to Podempeta - which has now been extended to Bateswar to accommodate and protect the turtles.

On Tuesday night, as many as 3,147 turtles reached the coast to lay eggs. They dug out holes with their flippers, laid eggs in them and covered them up, before returning back to the sea. The eggs will incubate for around 45 days on their own because of the sand's heat, he said.

The department has imposed restrictions on entry of visitors and tourists to over 4.5km stretch of the beach, divided into 40 segments based on records of data regarding nesting. Tourists as well as local visitors are being allowed entry only at Podempeta, so that human crowd does not affect the mass nesting. Parking slots have been made for tourists' vehicles there. "For the first time, we have also arranged a visual display unit at Gokharkuda to highlight the activities of the olive ridleys," he said.

"We have deployed 110 personnel, including 40 from the forest department and local fishermen as protection squad who are keeping tabs on the area. We have opened 11 camps in the area and five special camps at Purunabandha, Gokharkuda, Podempeta, New Podempetaand and Bateswar for better co-ordination. We have also opened eight artificial hatchery on the coast to keep the eggs laid during sporadic nesting, the officer said.

Five police personnel are deployed at Gokharkuda. The forest department will produce a documentary film on olive ridley turtles this year.