One lakh turtles nest in Rushikulya beach in Orissa

BERHAMPUR (Orissa): Over one lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles have laid eggs on the beach adjoining the Rushikulya river mouth since Monday as scientists observed the phenomenon with interest.

The eggs are expected to hatch in the first week of May, about 45 days after the mass nesting.

While 6,000 turtles emerged from the sea to lay eggs in the wee hours of Monday, around 65,000 swarmed the four-km long sandy beach between Gokharakuda and Kantiagada the next day. The number of nesting turtles came down thereafter.

Kartik Shanker, a turtle biologist from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and Basudeb Tripathy of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), who are here to study the pattern of mass nesting, said the laying of eggs could continue sporadically for a few more days.

The hatching will take place around the first week of May when the temperature will be high.

Shanker said that the gender of the hatchling was determined by several factors including the prevailing temperature of the time.

"If the temperature is high, more numbers of female hatchlings are expected to emerge from the eggs," said Shanker adding it could happen in the Rushikulya beach as the day temperature was on the rise.