Only a few Olive Ridleys lay eggs at Nasi island
Only dozen of endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have laid eggs since last November at Nasi-2 island in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, the largest rookery of the species.
In last couple of days, it has been witnessed that though several Olive Ridley sea turtles were found heading towards the beaches of Nasi-2, but they skipped from laying eggs due to eroding beach condition and geographical change.
If the southern wind would blow in February, then the beach would be congenial for the turtles to lay eggs, forest official said.
The forest personnel have also collected about 40 eggs from a nest located at Nasi-2 to hatch it artificially at the artificial hatchery set up in Babubali.
This year, though the sea patrolling has been going on but the turtle death toll is reportedly more than last time. This year more than thousand of turtle carcasses have washed ashore where as last year it was below 900 during this time.
Though the exact reason behind the rise of turtle carcasses is yet to be ascertained, but the forest personnel said it could be due to lack of sea surveillance and movement of fishing trawlers outside the Gahirmatha marine Sanctuary.
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