Mass Hatching of Olive Ridley Turtles begins
Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles began at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery, a major nesting site of these marine turtles.
Olive Ridley Turtles
The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian OceansIn the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
Special feature: Mass nesting
They are best known for their behaviour of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.