KENDRAPARA: With marine debris posing a threat to turtles to nest on the beaches, locals, environmentalists and forest officials joined hands to clean the Agaranasi beach, one of the arribada sites within Gahirmatha marine sanctuary on Friday, ahead of mass nesting. Over six quintal trash that included plastic items, discarded fishing nets, glass bottles, shoes and footwear, was collected from the beach during the eight-hour operation. The volunteers carried the trash from the beach in boats to the mainland.
The three km beach clean-up gains importance as turtles need a clean environment to lay eggs. Often, plastics, glass, foam, rubber and discarded fishing gear that get washed up on the beaches pose a threat to the turtles as they get trapped in them or even consume many items. During the sea turtle nesting season, it is crucial for to ensure the beaches are kept free of marine debris.
Olive Ridleys are protected under Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. India is also a signatory to CITES, which prohibits trade in turtles, turtle parts and eggs, said range officer of Gahirmatha Debashis Bhoi. In 1997, the government had declared the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, spread over 1,435 sq km in the sea from Hukitola to Dhamara to protect the marine turtles as each winter, lakhs of turtles arrive at the site for laying eggs.
Gahiramatha beach is the largest rookery of sea turtles in the world due to which the government bans all types of fishing in the area for seven months from November 1 to May 31. As many as 4,0,7020 turtles had laid eggs from March 14 to 21 at Nasi-1, Nasi-2 and Agaranasi islands within Gahirmatha last year.
The beach clean-up programme was organized by the Forest department in collaboration with Gahirmatha Marine Turtle and Mangrove Conservation Society.