Arrival of olive ridley turtles in Gahirmatha affected by erosion of nesting beaches

The arrival of olive ridley turtles in Gahirmatha has taken a beating due to erosion of nesting beaches. These beaches are widely perceived as the world's largest known rookery for this breed of turtles and the erosion has affected the annual mass nesting of the endangered species.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 27 March 2016.

The turtles have arrived en-masse as usual at the nesting grounds on the unmanned Nasi-2 island but, their numbers are considerably less than last year. As per statistics, since the commencement of mass-nesting on March 16, around 51,748 female turtles have laid eggs on the beach.
Moreover, the day-to-day sequence of the turtles' emergence is also not encouraging because, at its peak on March 19, around 28,445 turtles dug pits to lay eggs and, subsequently, the figure dropped drastically and not a single turtle had turned up for mass nesting in the past three days.
It is understood that nearly 4.13 lakh turtles had turned up at the beach for mass nesting last year and, this year, it has been a low-key affair. The female turtles usually reach the nesting beaches in the dead of night to lay eggs and, after laying the eggs, they leave the nesting ground and return to the sea. Hatchlings emerge from these eggs after 45-60 days.
Olive ridley turtles are in a unique breed by themselves because it is a rare natural phenomenon where the babies grow up without their mothers.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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