Millions of Olive Ridley turtles make their way to the sea on this Odisha coast
As the world is in agonising pain due to the coronavirus pandemic, nature has its own way to showcase its marvel. On Friday, millions of eggs of Olive Ridley turtles hatched and the social media went berserk with cute baby turtles making their way to the sea. The beautiful sight of the thousands of turtles crawling into the sea gives an instant ASMR effect and calms us down amid this global pandemic.
Normally, the turtle eggs take 45 days to hatch and are concentrated in a small strip of the islands near Gahirmatha beach. Around 30 forest officials guard the nesting beach and the sea to protect the turtles and their eggs. The state government has imposed a ban on fishing inside the marine sanctuary from November 1 last year to May 31 to protect the turtles.
Interestingly, Odisha's Gahirmatha Beach is the world's largest breeding place of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles, known for its unique mass nesting called Arribada. Gahirmatha separates Bhitarkanika mangroves from theBay of Bengal.
DFO Amlan Nayak told The New Indian Express: "Usually, mass nesting of Olive Ridleys attracts a lot of tourists every year which disturbs the nesting turtles. However, the lockdown has meant no tourists or locals are allowed to enter this year. With no human activity, more number of turtles have laid eggs this time."
Here are some glimpses of the world's most beautiful annual phenomenon:
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