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Olive ridley turtles start mating

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Nesting season: A pair of Olive Ridley turtles in the sea off Gokharakuda in Ganjam district on Saturday.

BERHAMPUR: Olive ridleys have started mating at deep sea near the Rushikulya river mouth enlivening hopes among environmental activists that they may arrive at this coast in the coming months to lay their eggs.

Although mating was reported near this coast during last winter, due to some reasons these rare turtles did not turn up at this coast for mass nesting last season. Despite sudden change in mood of turtles towards this coast last winter, the 15 kilometer shore line from Prayagi to Purunabandh near the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district is still considered one of the preferred locations for nesting of these rare turtles in the world. In 2006 these turtles had mass nesting twice at this coast, which had intrigued experts.

As per the traditional fishermen of the Ganjam coast, the mating of these turtles is being sighted at a distance of around eight kilometers from the coast line.

This year sighting of mating was slightly late. Usually the mating season of these turtle starts from November second week and continues till January. “Mating season reaches its peak by end of December,” said the Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer, S.N.Mohapatra.

But the marine fishermen allege they have started to see carcasses of Olive ridleys floating near the Rushikulya river mouth coast. They allege illegal fishing by trawlers near the coast despite restrictions to be the culprit.

Till now not much protection has been provided at this coast to protect the turtles from the illegal entry of trawlers.

The State Fisheries Department is yet to provide the two boats which are to patrol the area to check illegal entry of trawlers into the region of mating of turtles.

The Forest Department’s trawler that meant to patrol the coast is also not operational. Mr. Mohapatra said they are facing problems to park their trawlers as the jetty near Purunabandh where it is parked has become too shallow due to changes at Rushikulya river mouth. He however added that the carcasses of Olive ridleys may have also floated to this region from other areas of the coast line.

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