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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Egypt bombs ISIS targets in Libya in retaliation of killing of Coptic Christians

#copticchristian #ISIS #abdelfattahelsisi #f16jets #sirte #derna Egypt has launched airstrikes targeting ISIS-affiliated jihadists in Libya because it is believed that they have beheaded over a dozen Egyptian Coptic Christians as reported in edition.cnn.com dated 15 February 2015.
As per information released by the Egyptian military, the Egyptian F-16 jets bombed ISIS camps, training areas and weapons depots in Libya. It was in retaliation of the killings of Christians. The airstrikes had targeted ISIS locations in Derna.
The ministry has clarified that unless firm measures are taken to check the activities of such terrorist organizations, it would become a threat to international peace and security.
The airstrikes have been undertaken after the ISIS had released a video Sunday depicting beheadings of Egyptian Christians on a beach. The victims are shown dressed in orange jumpsuits and their hands are cuffed behind them. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has declared a week of mourning in the Muslim majority nation for the dead Christians.
It may be recalled that 21 Egyptian Christians had been kidnapped in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte in two separate incidents in December and January and they belonged to impoverished villages and had gone to Libya looking for work. The people who have been beheaded could most probably be from this group.