Another Olive Ridley nesting site in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Dec 28: The Odisha forest department is all set to add another Olive Ridley Rookery (mass nesting site) to its wildlife map.

It has started preparing the beach at the Bahuda river mouth in Ganjam district to lure the endangered turtles to come over for mass nesting next year.

Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district are the two main Olive Ridley nesting sites in Odisha. Of these sites, Gahirmatha marine sanctuary is the largest rookery for Olive Ridley turtles. Odisha is home to 50 per cent of the total world’s population of  Olive Ridleys and about 90 per cent of  Indian population of sea turtles.

Bahuda Rookery is located around 20 km to south of  Rushikulya rookery coast.

Olive Ridley turtle is smallest and most abundant of all sea turtle found in world. It is best known for their unique mass nesting called ‘Arribada’, where thousands of  females come together on the same beach each year to lay eggs. It is found in warm waters of  Pacific and Indian Oceans. They are found along both eastern and western coast of India.