Bhubaneswar Mar 19: Olive Ridley turtles, that are remarked as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened species, were seen again at Eakakulanasi island in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha for mass nesting after a long interval of 33 years.

''Endangered Olive Ridley turtles have appeared again at the Eakakulanasi island in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha for mass nesting after a gap of 33 years'', an official said.

"The idyllic beach on the island had undergone sea erosion, leading to the beach profile getting truncated. However, the beach is currently elongated as it has started accreting since 2020. This has turned out conducive for turtles to turn up en masse to lay eggs," said Manas Das, Assistant Conservator of Forests.

The marine species had last appeared at the beach in 1992 when 3 lakh turtles had laid eggs, said Das.

"It's an exceedingly positive development in the turtle protection initiative that is underway under the stewardship of Odisha Forest Department," he added.

''The profile of the Ekakulanasi beach, which was around 4 km long earlier, has now been elongated to 8 km following the natural process of accretion, which is a process of sediments returning to the beach. The nesting beach welcomed 1.7 lakh turtles over the last two days'', he said.

Other than the Nasi-2 beach, the coastline has emerged as the preffered nesting site, said the official. Adding furthermore, he said, 2.63 lakh turtles have emerged on Nasi-2 beach to dig pits and lay eggs. The Olive Ridley turtles make an apperance in millions for mass nesting along several seashores in Odisha, every year.

Gahirmatha beach in Kendrapara district is accredited as the world's largest-known nesting ground of this vulnerable species of turtles. Apart from Gahirmatha, these threatened aquatic animals are seen at Rushikulya river mouth and Devi river mouth.

The aquatic guests, after laying eggs, leave the nesting ground and head into the sea waters. After a period of 45-50 days, newly hatched baby turtles emerge from the eggs. It is a rare natural phenomenon where the babies grow without their mother, the official remarked.

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