Remnants of eggs from second-phase mass nesting of olive ridleys at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery has made the coast a stinking, polluted place.
Fishermen from the region said they are facing the stench problem this year because of the unique recurrence of mass nesting of olive ridleys.
Thousands of decomposing remnants of turtle eggs can be seen strewn on the coast between Podampeta and Gokharkuda, the region where mass nesting had recurred in April this year.
Environmental activist Rabindranath Sahu, who heads the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee, said this problem has been caused by nature and nature only will alleviate it with time. Olive ridley eggs incubate on their own by the heat of the sand under which they are buried. The hatchlings come out in 45 to 50 days and after that the covering of the eggs decompose and mix with the sand.
Vagaries of nature
This year, the olive ridleys nested twice at Rushikulya coast — the first time in February when it’s the regular mass nesting period, and the second time in April from 18th to 22nd. In the second phase, around 37,000 mother olive ridleys laid eggs at the beach. This untimely second-phase mass nesting faced vagaries of nature like eroding sea waves which could not be stopped by using sand bags. A large number of olive ridley nests were exposed and damaged by the waves. These eggs have started to decompose now and the stench emanating from them is driving tourists away from the beach, said Mr. Sahu.
Khallikote ranger of Forest Department Dilip Kumar Martha said the summer sun and saline water of the sea will gradually decompose the remnants of the eggs and the beach will become free from the debris which will mix up with the sand.
