The forest officials of Bhitarkanika National Park have recently collected nearly 4,800 Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs from the nesting grounds of Gahirmatha. They collected the eggs from 48 nests of the turtles at Babubali, Agarnashi, Chinchiri and Dobanda (Pentha) beaches. Sporadic nesting has commenced in the golden beaches of Gahirmatha as this year the forest personnel have spotted 201 nests of Olive Ridleys, DFO Kedar Kumar Swain informed.
The Forest Department has set up artificial hatcheries at Dobanda, Babubali, Chinchiri and Agarnasi to hatch eggs and later to release the hatchlings near the shore and also to protect the eggs from predators like jackals, wild boars, dogs and birds, informed DFO Swain.
The endangered species’ mortality rate is so high that one egg out of every 1000 eggs laid ultimately hatches. It may be noted here in last turtle season, the number of sporadic nesting during January 30, 2014 was only 32.
The forest officials claimed that the turtle death toll is on the lower side this time due to tight vigil and surveillance along the coast. The forest personnel have intercepted as many as 20 fishing trawlers and arrested more than 135 fishermen for illegally catching fish in the sanctuary. The surveillance has been tightened to ensure protection to the endangered turtle species as every year a large number of them are killed due to trawler movement and fishing operations. According to sources, as many as 300 carcasses of Olive Ridelys have been spotted along the coast of Gahirmatha till January 30.