Olive Ridleys sighted near Devi river

Bhubaneswar, Oct 28 (UNI) Endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles were sighted for the first time this season at Devi river near coastal waters off the Ganga-Devi beach a few days ago.

According to Operation Kachhap Coordinator Biswajit Mohanty, a few turtles were also seen yesterday swimming in Devi river waters.

The turtles, he said, have stuck to their time-table and arrived at the Orissa coast in the last week of October.

Sea turtles return to the coastal waters of Orissa for breeding and nesting every year from October to May. After the completion of their annual ritual, they return to deep sea offshore waters near the Sri Lanka coast.

Orissa coast is considered as the nesting ground for more than half of the world's population of Olive Ridleys, while the other two include Costa Rica and Mexico.

Mr Mohanty said three well-known mass congregations and nesting grounds in Orissa are located near Gahirmatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth. The Nasi Islands at Gahirmatha are the world's largest nesting ground for sea turtles. Last year in February, estimated 3,00,000 turtles nested in the Orissa coast.

However, mass nesting skipped at the Devi river mouth due to massive illegal trawling, which claimed thousands of turtles, the said, adding more than 1,30,000 turtles have been killed during the last 13 years due to illegal fishing by mechanised boats.

Mr Mohanty said though the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court has issued a number of orders directing both Central and state governments to protect the turtles, a majority of them were yet to be complied with.

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