Paradip, March 13: Around 70,000 olive ridley sea turtles have reappeared on the tranquil beach of Gahirmatha for mass nesting.
The turtles have turned up at the beach since the past two days. They came to the beach and dug out nests to lay eggs. They were spotted moving around the beach before going back to seawater. The mass nesting process commenced after the daybreak and continued till the wee hours.
This is a unique natural phenomenon and is also a visual treat. The mass nesting is expected to continue for at least five to six days more. "By the time it ends, the number of turtles to the Nasi 1 and Nasi 2 islands would increase," chief wildlife warden S.S. Srivastav said.
Last year, the turtles had skipped mass nesting here. However, during 2013, nearly four lakh turtles had crawled onto the Gahirmatha beach for mass nesting. Forest officials are hopeful that the number of visiting turtles will go up in coming days. "With the climatic condition being conducive and beach topography being ideal, the turnout of these marine creatures would rise in coming days," said a forest official.
Earlier, wildlife experts feared that the turtles might skip their annual visit this year as well. Forest officials have been relieved to see the turtles come to the nesting ground in large numbers.
The nesting beaches along the Nasi 1 and Nasi 2 Islands are teeming with female olive ridley turtles, which have made a beeline towards the nesting beach.
The Nasi-1 and Nasi-2 Island are located near the Defence Research Development Organisation's missile testing range on Wheeler's Island. Hence, no outsider was permitted to witness the natural phenomenon. Only the forest officials could witness the event.
The turtles loitered around the serene beach for quite a while before instinctively locating their preferred places to lay eggs. They stayed there for an hour before returning to the sea.
About 50 forest personnel were deployed on the beach to keep vigil and ensure safe and undisturbed mass nesting of the olive ridley turtles, said another forest official.
