Nearly 47 lakh of hatchlings have emerged from the Olive Ridley turtle eggs at Nasi II beach of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary. The percentage of the hatchlings was 12 to 15, informed Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) and Wildlife Division DFO Bimal Prasanna Acharya. According to Acharya, an estimated 4,13,334 endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles came for mass nesting this year from March 12 to 19 last at Nasi II (south Nasi) and Nasi I beach.
The female turtles reportedly laid nearly 80 eggs in each nest. Due to multi layering more than 50 per cent eggs were destroyed in several segments during the mass nesting. The eggs in the last three days of mass nesting remained intact at the nests. Similarly, the predators like crow and seagulls also destroyed some eggs laid in the nest of sandy beaches. Apart from this, more than 20 per cent of eggs in the nests were destroyed and washed away by the high tide whereas sand erosion in the beach damaged some eggs. Some eggs were found infertile. In this process, more than 80 per cent of eggs were damaged, stated DFO Acharya.
If the hatchlings reach the ocean successfully, they will spend the next several years dispersing in ocean currents. They will associate with sargassum rafts and floating debris, which provide them with food and shelter. Although the species are very slow moving on land, they swim very quickly in water and take advantage of ocean currents to assist their migration. Unlike their land based cousins, marine turtles have streamlined shells and paddle –like flippers that can propel them at speed of up to 50 km per hour. The turtle’s mortality rate is so high that one egg out of every 1,000 eggs laid ultimately hatches and the hatchlings survive to become adults, informed the DFO.