Ganjam:Around a month after,the second phase of mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles began in the Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam district.The unique phenomena of these endangered sea species were witnessed after a gap of seven years in the Rushikulya rookery,said forest officials.Since yesterday the egg laying started and a total of 38,779 turtles laid eggs in the stretch of the rookery from Purunabandh to Bateswar,of the second phase of the mass nesting,said assistant conservator of forest (ACF), in-charge of Khallikote range,Dibya Shankar Behera.The second phase of the mass nesting of the turtles will continue for the next few days the officials said.A large number of the Olive Ridley turtles are still in the sea and trying to reach onto the beach to lay eggs,said Anil Mohapatra, a senior scientist of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)’s regional centre, Gopalpur.A record number of 6,98,718 Olive Ridley turtles had laid eggs on the sandy beach in the first phase of their mass nesting from February 16 to 23 in the Rushikulya rookery.Though the mass hatchling was yet to occur, sporadic hatchlings have started on the beach for the last few days. Generally, the hatchlings will emerge from the shells after 45 to 50 days of laying eggs, turtle experts said.The second phase of mass nesting was earlier recorded in the rookery in 2018. Over 37,000 turtles had laid eggs in the second phase of the nesting held from April 20 to 27, 2018. Around 4.50 lakh turtles had laid eggs in the first phase of mas nesting held from February 21 to 28 of the same year, sources said.Rabindra Nath Sahu, president Ganjam district sea turtle protection committee said the second phase of mass nesting occurred several times in Rushikulya rookery and Gahirmatha, one of the largest rookeries for Olive Ridley turtles.The ACF,Behera said elaborate protection measures has been initiated of the eggs following the second phase of mass nesting in the rookery.Additional 20 staffs has been deployed to guard the turtles which came to lay eggs,along with earlier deployed 180 staffs and local volunteers to guard the eggs,said the ACF.
