Forest department secures 94 Olive Ridley turtles eggs in Karnataka's Kumta

Kumta RFO Praveen Nayak told, 'This is the time when Olive Ridley turtles arrive ashore to lay eggs.'

A nest with 94 eggs of Olive Ridley turtles at the shore near Bada in Kumta taluk, Uttara Kannada district.

Credit: Special Arrangement

Kumta (U-K dist): Forest department personnel, along with locals, on Saturday collected 94 Olive Ridley turtle eggs from a nest near Bada in the taluk and relocated them to a hatchery at Ramanagindi near Dhareshwar.

Kumta RFO Praveen Nayak told DH, “This is the time when Olive Ridley turtles arrive ashore to lay eggs. They arrived at the shore near a Mutt in Bada at 11 pm on Friday.  They laid 94 eggs in a conical nest, closed the hole and returned back to sea, all in a single night. The department had alerted locals about arrivals of turtles for nesting.

After they passed on the message about the nesting, our personnel reached the spot, collected eggs from the nest and relocated them to a hatchery at Ramanagindi. The Olive Ridley turtle eggs normally hatch in 45-65 days. The hatchlings will then be released into the sea, the RFO said. He said that this was the first nest of turtles this season. He said locals who informed the department about the nesting would get an incentive.