Little green baby turtles that were released from the buckets in which they were kept scurried towards the sea to make a life of their own.
Not all of these hatchlings will make it to adulthood, but those that do will be back on the Puducherry shores to lay their eggs.
On Monday close to 350 hatchlings were released into the sea by the Forest Department.
Through this laying season, the department has relied heavily on the help of the local fishing community to identify hatching spots and to help guard the temporary hatcheries.
“Till last year, most of the villagers and even the fishermen would take turtle eggs, because they are very tasty. This year, however, the Department came and explained to us how the fish life would improve if we saved the turtles, so this year we started informing the department whenever a turtle laid eggs,” Thirumal, a fisherman from Nallavadu said.
This year alone I have helped the Department bury many dead turtles. It is only this year that I realize the importance of turtles, so now I will begin to educate my children and the rest of my community, another informer for the Department Subrayan from Narambai said.
“For the past one month, I have barely slept at night and guarding these turtle nests is difficult, but now, releasing these turtles have made it all worth it,” Valumani from the Forest Department said.
This year, there have been a total of 14 hatching sites with 1800 eggs. Thanks to the heavy protection given to the temporary nurseries, so far there has been a 100 per cent hatching rate, Deputy Conservator of Forests Sathyamoorthy said.
