Olive Ridley turtles start laying eggs in Orissa beach

KENDRAPARA (ORISSA): Olive Ridley turtles have finally arrived at Gahirmatha beach in Orissa to lay eggs much to the delight of wildlife lovers and forest officials.

An estimated 46,000 female turtles were spotted digging pits on the sandy nesting ground for laying eggs, forest department officials said.

The number of visiting turtles is on a lower scale given the fact that over 5 lakh turtles had converged at the nesting ground here last year. Gahirmatha beach off the Bay of Bengal coast is acclaimed as world's largest-known nesting ground of the turtles.

Forest officials are, however, hopeful that the number of visiting turtles would go up in the coming days with the climatic condition conducive and beach topography ideal.

About 500 turtles were sighted on Saturday. Over 24,000 turtles dug pits to lay eggs last night. The figure stood at 16,000 on the preceding day. Last year 5.1 lakh turtles laid eggs at the Gahirmatha beach, the sources said.

The mass nesting is expected to continue for more than a week.