The Odisha coast is home to one of the largest mass nesting sites in the world for which sea turtle species?

The eastern Indian state of Odisha is known worldwide for seasonally hosting olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) en masse as they visit the seashore along the Bay of Bengal for mass nesting. This spring (March 2020), however, heralded a surprise for the marine conservationists and state forest department, who witnessed mass nesting of the species during the day after nearly seven years.

Local government officials taking care of the sea turtles told Mongabay-India that the daytime nesting along the Rushikulya rookery was recorded after seven years.

The olive ridley turtle is considered the most abundant sea turtle in the world, with an estimated 800,000 nesting females annually. The olive ridley is globally distributed in the tropical regions of the South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They are listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red list and are also protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

This year nesting at Rushikulya has been a little delayed due to recent torrential rains in the region. It usually starts in the third week of February and continues until the first week of March, officials said. This year, mass nesting started from March 21 and has continued till March-end, even during the day.

 

Picture Credit : Google