Over 10L Olive Ridley turtles sweep Odisha nesting sites

Berhampur/Kendrapara: More than 10 lakh Olive Ridley turtles have crawled ashore this year to the two major mass nesting sites in Odisha to lay eggs in one of the largest congregations of the vulnerable species, officials said.

The number was much less last year since no mass nesting had taken place at Rushikulya in 2021. Around 7.30 lakh turtles had turned up for mass nesting in both Gahirmatha and Rushikulya in 2020.

The migratory turtles, deriving their name from the olive-green shell, travel from the South Pacific Ocean and turn up in millions every year at the Odisha coast, the largest mass-nesting site for the species.

This year, incidentally, the congregation at the Rushikulya estuary (river mouth) in Ganjam district was more than Gahirmatha, one of the world's most important nesting beaches for the sea turtle species.

According to a forest official, a record number of 5.5 lakh turtles congregated at the Rushikulya estuary during the eight-day mass nesting that ended on Sunday.

"The nesting, which began on the five-km-long island near the Rushikulya river mouth on March 27, broke all the records at the rookery," Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Amlan Nayak said.

The previous highest at Rushikulya was 4.82 lakh in 2018. There was sporadic nesting last year, but no mass nesting, Nayak said.