Olive Ridley turtles have begun to arrive at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam for their annual mass mating season that precedes the mass nesting that takes place here. Rushikulya rookery is a major nesting site for the Olive Ridleys along the Indian coast.
Despite the congregation of large numbers appearance of large congregations for the mass mating season, the turtles Olive Ridleys had not appeared preferred for the mass nesting here at this coast in 2019.
However, in 2018, there was double mass nesting was reported on this coast in February and April, with the total nesting figures reaching over 4,73,000.
A few mating Olive Ridley pairs were spotted at sea by a patrolling boat of Forest officials, at a distance of around six kilometres from Purunabandha near the Ruhsikulya river mouth, on Tuesday afternoon. “Our patrolling team located three to four mating pairs at a single spot, while some singular mating pairs were located near by,” said Khallikote Forest Range Officer, Dilip Kumar Martha.
According to the Forest officials, hundreds of Olive Ridleys have started to congregate for mating in deep sea, beyond the spot where the mating pairs were found. Usually, the mass mating of Olive Ridleys picks up in December and continues till the month of January. After this period, mating male turtles return while the females remain for the mass nesting season.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department has started the groundwork to keep the beach prepared to welcome the marine guests for mass nesting in February, next year. A 10-member team from the Forest Department is patrolling the sea near Rushikulya rookery to ensure the safety of the arriving Olive Ridleys and to also check the entry of fishing trawlers in the area.
The Forest Department has set up six on-shore camps in the five kilometre stretch of the mass nesting beach, from Purunabandha to Prayagi near the Rushikulya river mouth. Two persons have been deployed at these camps to regularly document the condition of the beach, protect the surrounding area, inform of any debris deposited by the sea, restrict the entry of predators like stray dogs and search for possibility of turtle carcasses that float to the coast.
With the help of the locals and various social organisations, this stretch of the mass nesting coast is being cleaned every alternate day, Mr. Martha said.
