The Covid-19 outbreak turned out to be boon for wildlife and environment as over 2 crore Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings made their way into the gushing seawater recently without hindrance.
Forest Department sources said a total of 2,05,10,000 hatchlings began their new journey into the Bay of Bengal, their source location, in five days. Such a big number of hatchlings emerging out of the eggs is the highest in a past decade. The process will continue in next couple of days.
A total of 4.7 lakh turtles had laid eggs at Gahirmatha, Babubali island, Agarnasi island, Pentha, Satabhaya beach and Barunei river mouth for eight days between March 14 and 21, out of which the hatchlings have started coming out of the eggs.
As per official information, as many as 68.60 lakh hatchlings on May 2, 84 lakh on May 3, 43 lakh on May 4, 7 lakh on May 5 and 2.10 lakh on May 6 made their way to the sea.