VISAKHAPATNAM: Despite mass strandings of Olive Ridley turtles along the Andhra Pradesh coast in January, nesting activity has remained steady in February, with turtles continuing to arrive on the shores to lay eggs.
To aid conservation efforts, the Forest Department has set up four hatcheries along the Visakhapatnam coast at RK Beach, Sagar Nagar, Uppada, and Pedanagamayyapalem. So far, 262 nests containing 26,630 eggs have been relocated to these ex-situ hatcheries for protection.
In Vizianagaram, 213 nests with 23,632 eggs have been recorded, while in Bapatla, five nests with a total of 607 eggs have been relocated. On Hope Island, the total nest count stands at 85 as of Wednesday.
The Forest Department has also established a conservation hatchery at Chinamainivani Lanka near Narasapuram in West Godavari district. The District Collector inspected the hatchery, which has recorded 4,400 eggs laid in the past month. Officials estimate that the total number of eggs laid along the AP coast could reach 2.5 lakh in the coming two months.
The Forest Department has partnered with the Tree Foundation to manage the hatching process in Visakhapatnam this season. Each hatchery is monitored by a team comprising three local fishermen and two Tree Foundation coordinators, while the RK Beach hatchery has four fishermen and one Tree Foundation coordinator.
During a field visit by TNIE on Wednesday, hatchery guards overseeing the nesting sites shared their insights. Dasu, a fisherman who has been collecting Olive Ridley turtle eggs at Sagar Nagar for over two decades, highlighted the persistent challenge of predation.
“Stray dogs are one of the biggest threats to turtle nests. They often reach the nesting sites before us, and attempt to dig up and eat the eggs,” he said. He also observed a gradual decline in the number of eggs per nest. “Earlier, a single nest contained 200 to 250 eggs, but now it has reduced to around 150 to 180 and sometimes even as low as 80. Changes in climate, ocean conditions, and land patterns caused by humans could be affecting this,” he noted.
To ensure proper monitoring, the staff record details such as the number of eggs, date of discovery, and estimated hatching date. Each nest is marked with a stick for easy identification. The incubation period for Olive Ridley eggs ranges from 45 to 65 days, after which the hatchlings are carefully transferred to baskets and released onto the beach.
“We start our work as early as 4 am, walking along the coast to locate nests. The key sign we look for is the distinctive turtle tracks leading to and from the beach,” said Srinu, Tree Foundation coordinator at the Sagar Nagar hatchery. The first batch of hatchlings is expected to emerge by the first or second week of March, he added.
However, concerns have been raised about the impact of bright artificial lighting along RK Beach. Conservationists believe that the intense beam lights disrupt the nesting process. Most of the recorded nests are located between the Coastal Battery and the Novotel stretch, where the lighting is relatively dim. Conservationists have suggested reducing artificial lighting at night to create a more suitable nesting environment.