The turtle lovers are going to miss an opportunity to see mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles in the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary through live telecast due to national security. The Forest personnel apprehend that live telecast may disturb the nesting of turtles at night. The decision was taken recently at a meeting in Bhubaneswar, said DFO Kedar Kumar Swain.
The Government had last year decided to web-cast the mass nesting of the Olive Ridleys to attract tourists and researchers. However, as the turtles skipped mass nesting at Gahirmatha, so web casting was not made. According to Swain, the live telecast would not be done during the night hour as there is every possibility that the turtles might be disturbed and they may skip nesting after coming across light.
However, the mass nesting would be videographed during the day hour and it would be uploaded in the public domain, he said. Another reason is as the turtle nesting ground is near the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) establishment, so keeping in mind coastal security, it has been decided not to go for live telecast.