Volunteers of Samudrika Kaincha Surakhya Parishad are protecting the new born Olive Ridley turtles at Purunabandha, about 40 km away from here. Despite scorching heat they are guarding the beach under the supervision of wildlife officials.
President of the Parishad Rabindra sahu said mass hatching of Olive Ridley eggs started eight days back and around 6 lakh baby turtles swam into the sea.
The number of female Olive Ridleys is less this year compared to 2013 despite conducive atmosphere, said Prof Ramchandra Panigrahy of Marine Science in Berhampur University.
Usually hatching starts around 50 days after nesting, but this year it was delayed by more than a week and the mass hatching would continue for another one week in a sporadic way, Panigrahy added. Wildlife officials have made elaborate arrangements for the protection of newborns. Since the baby turtles get attracted by light, nets have been fixed near the beach to prevent the baby turtles from straying away from the sea. They also urged the local people and other business establishments not to switch high watt lights on after midnight as the hatching starts after 2 am and continues till sunrise, Panigrahi added.
Usually the Olive Ridley eggs, buried in sand, hatch on their own in 45 to 50 days. But this time the eggs on Ruhsikulya rookery in Ganjam district of south showed signs of delay in hatching.
In Rushikulya rookery, around 61,000 Olive Ridleys nested and each of them laid 120 to 180 eggs. The mass nesting, which began in February 12, continued for 15 days. According to Prof Panigrahy, changes in soil temperature due to climatic changes during incubation period have delayed hatching.
The Forest Department established two hatcheries to monitor incubation of Olive Ridley eggs. One of those located near Purunabandha was for scientific studies. Eggs from nests other than the mass nesting site were collected for monitored incubation at the hatchery near Ramayapatna.