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Turtles begin hatching on Orissa coast

"Wonderful sight at Rushikulya with the beach teeming with over 100,000 hatchlings"

Bhubaneswar: Thousands of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles hatchling have started crawling out of eggs laid on Rushikulya beach in Ganjam district of Orissa since the early hours of Sunday, much to the delight of conservationists.

"It is a wonderful sight at Rushikulya with the beach teeming with over 100,000 hatchlings tenderly taking their first step towards water signalling the commencement of mass hatching season on the early hours of April 9," Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, wildlife Society of Orissa said.

Rushikulya is one of the three major nesting sites along the Orissa coast.

He said this year mass nesting had occurred on the same day as the previous year. The hatchlings normally emerge after a period of about 45-55 days depending upon the ambient sand temperature and climatic conditions. The mass-nesting phase had started around mid-February this year.

Volunteers from local youth clubs, villagers, men from state forest department and NGOs have been keeping vigil to protect the eggs from dogs, jackals and predators since the nesting season began.

Stating that Olive Ridley sea turtles are highly endangered since they face dangers at every stage in their lives including natural causes, Mr Mohanty said only one out of every 1,000 eggs ultimately survives to become an adult sea turtle. Turtle hatchlings normally emerge in the evening hours only and move towards the sea under the cover of darkness, which ensures that they are safe from predators and the hot sun. They have to face many enemies since they are preyed on by sea gulls, crows and animals like jackals, dogs and wild pigs as they scamper towards the sea especially during the early morning hours. Expressing concern, Mr Mohanty, who is also the coordinator of operation Kachhapa, an NGO, also referred to the unresolved issue of illumination at Rushikulya beach. The hatchlings, which determine the direction of the sea by moonlight reflecting off the waves, get confused by any other source of light and start moving towards it, ending up in dry land and ultimately dying of dehydration, if lucky enough to survive predators till then.

In fact, to protect the disoriented hatchlings, the forest department has put up low level protection nets over a stretch of 3 km on the landward side to stop them. Experts say the hatchlings leave the Orissa coast travelling far with the help of ocean currents to foraging grounds and return to breed and nest only when they become adults after 7-15 years. -- UNI

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