In a grand culmination of annual mass nesting of endangered olive ridley turtles, millions of baby turtles have broken out of eggshells to emerge from sandy pits and crawl towards the sea at the idyllic Gahirmatha beach off the Bay of Bengal coast in Odisha’s Kendrapara district.

The enactment of a unique natural heritage- the birth of baby turtles sans mother- has left the wildlife lovers elated.

Advertisement

Lakhs of hatchlings have broken out of their eggshells in the past 48 hours and crawled towards the seawaters. The emergence of baby turtles marks the grand culmination of the annual sojourn of Olive turtles along the Gahirmatha beach, which is incidentally regarded World’s largest nesting ground of these aquatic animals at Gahirmatha beach.

The annual sojourn of Olive Ridley sea turtles for mass nesting otherwise called as ‘arribada’ had come to an end at Nasi- 1, Nasi- 2 and Eakakulanasi islands in Kendrapara district (from 5 to 10 March) with over 6 lakh lakh female turning up at the beach turtles to lay eggs, said Assistant Conservator of Forest, Manas Das.

The emergence of hatchlings would last for at least for seven to ten days. The number of babies would swell considerably in the coming days, said the forest official.

The whole of nesting sites is jam-packed with baby turtles and the wildlife officials of Bhitarkanika National Park stationed at these nesting grounds were sole witnesses to this unique natural heritage involving the birth of babies sans mother, said forest officials.

In an attempt to curb the light-induced distraction to the baby turtles, the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has masked the high-power light from its Wheeler’s Island missile test range centre, lying close to the turtles’ nesting ground.

Tourists and researchers were denied entry to savour the unique natural heritage keeping in view the fact that the unmanned islands is located in close vicinity of Wheeler’s island defence test range centre, a prohibited territory.

The babies broke out of the shackles of eggshells and wandered aimlessly around the sandy beach for nearly an hour before making their way to swirling seawater, narrated wildlife staff.

It’s a rare visual treat as the delicate babies with mothers nowhere in sight generated a hissing noise, thus creating a soothing cacophony. Later, they made a beeline towards the sea.

After the eggs are incubated under natural conditions, the hatchlings come out after 45/55 days’ hiatus. The phenomenon of babies’ emergence from the nests is a unique proposition in itself, as “babies grow sans mother.”

The mortality rate of hatchlings is exceedingly high, as one out of a thousand survives the life cycle to grow into an adult.