<p>Around 50 students of Gopal Krushna High School, Subalaya, on Thursday cleared all garbage from the beach between Gokharakuda to Podampeta. They took around four to five hours to clean the beach, famous for the mass nesting site of sea turtles, said Shankar Narayan Bej, one of the school teachers.<br /><br />Covering an area of five sq km from Gokharakuda to Purunabandh, the river Rushikulya mouth is now emerging as the second largest rookery in the world for the turtles after Gahiramatha in Kendrapara district. With mass nesting of the turtles round the corner, it is required to keep the place clean, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur, <br />A K Jena.<br /><br />"The turtles are presently about three km away from the shore. They are awaiting inside the water to climb the beach for laying eggs," he added. Nesting is expected to take place within a week and prior to their visit, a clean beach is necessary for their smooth ride, experts said.<br /><br />The young green brigadiers, members of their school's eco-club, have been working with the forest department's staff since 2005 to clean the beach prior to mass nesting by turtles, said Bej, who is also the Ganjam district coordinator of eco-clubs.<br /><br />The beach clean drive was launched by the students, local volunteers and the forest staffs after wildlife experts realised that piling up of garbage on the beach was one of the obstacles for turtles to climb into the beach for mass nesting.</p>
<p>Around 50 students of Gopal Krushna High School, Subalaya, on Thursday cleared all garbage from the beach between Gokharakuda to Podampeta. They took around four to five hours to clean the beach, famous for the mass nesting site of sea turtles, said Shankar Narayan Bej, one of the school teachers.<br /><br />Covering an area of five sq km from Gokharakuda to Purunabandh, the river Rushikulya mouth is now emerging as the second largest rookery in the world for the turtles after Gahiramatha in Kendrapara district. With mass nesting of the turtles round the corner, it is required to keep the place clean, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur, <br />A K Jena.<br /><br />"The turtles are presently about three km away from the shore. They are awaiting inside the water to climb the beach for laying eggs," he added. Nesting is expected to take place within a week and prior to their visit, a clean beach is necessary for their smooth ride, experts said.<br /><br />The young green brigadiers, members of their school's eco-club, have been working with the forest department's staff since 2005 to clean the beach prior to mass nesting by turtles, said Bej, who is also the Ganjam district coordinator of eco-clubs.<br /><br />The beach clean drive was launched by the students, local volunteers and the forest staffs after wildlife experts realised that piling up of garbage on the beach was one of the obstacles for turtles to climb into the beach for mass nesting.</p>