Olive Ridley turtles from far away places have laid 923 eggs along the coast of Kanyakumari district during the current nesting season, according to District Forest Officer Vismiju Viswanathan.
He told The Hindu here on Sunday that the nesting season for the Olive Ridley was between mid-December to mid-April. An Olive Ridley turtle laid a maximum number of 108 eggs on Sothavilai beach. The eggs were noticed by the local people, who alerted forest officials on Sunday.
A team of officials recovered the eggs and transferred them to temporary hatcheries at Dwarkapathi and Azhikkal.
Mr. Viswanathan said forest watchers were deputed in turtle nesting areas. After the turtles were hatched (normal hatching period is 45 to 65 days), they would be let into the sea.
The department had appointed 12 persons to operate the hatcheries through Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project, he added.
Environment educator S.S. Davidson said due to environmental degradation, ecological imbalance, encroachments on the coast, explosion of human population, use of trawlers and trawling nets and explosion of fishing vessels, Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites shrank from 32 to eight – Leepuram, Amanakkanvilai, Keezhamanakkudi, Melamanakkudi, Sothavilai, Rajakkamangalam, Azhikkal and Veerabhagupathy – in the past two decades.
During the last nesting season, the turtles laid over 1,000 eggs, Mr. Davidson noted.
Mr. Davidson said two Olive Ridley turtles were rescued from poachers near Melamanakkudi bridge last month. They were let into the sea with the help of fishermen.
