Bhubaneswar: This is the time of the year when the Gahirmatha beach in Kendrapada district and the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam is normally a hive of activities. Buried in the sand one could find lakhs of Olive Ridley turtles, as they embark on their annual mass nesting exercise. But not this time.The Olive Ridley numbers are strangely down from previous years and there’s no concrete answer as to the reason for their absence from the pristine beaches.At Rushikulya, the nesting count has dropped drastically to around two lakh turtles, far below the record turnout of more than nine lakh the previous year. At Gahirmatha, only sporadic nesting has been recorded so far, with the total arrival counted at a meager 645 turtles.Even as the reasons remain unclear, several environmental factors may have disrupted the nesting behaviour. Experts believe erosion of the traditional 5km stretch of rookery at Rushikulya could be one of the reasons as well as extended winter conditions, unseasonal rain in March, lack of fresh beach formation and unsuitable temperatures for turtles skipping Odisha’s shores.“This time we saw at Rushikulya that turtles didn’t come to the 5km stretch of rookery. Erosion of the beach was noticed. This is not suitable for nesting,” said Tamoghna Acharya, associate professor of marine science department, Berhampur University. Acharya also said this time sea wind was less and there was no tide to help turtles ride along.Regional chief conservator of forests (Berhampur Circle), Vishwanath Neelannavar, said Olive Ridleys are highly sensitive and intelligent animals that do not come ashore without first assessing the beach.“Before nesting, they conduct a kind of recce along the coast to judge whether the habitat is suitable. Beach formation, especially the arrival of new sand, is crucial because turtles need soft, suitable ground for crawling and digging pits to lay eggs. If the beach condition is not favourable, they may avoid nesting altogether,” Neelannavar said, adding that it is normal for turtles to skip nesting in some years and that temperature also plays an important role.Divisional forest officer of Rajnagar mangrove division, Sudarshan Jadhav, who oversees Gahirmatha throughout the nesting season, said the exact behavioral biology of turtles is still a matter of research, even though some likely reasons are visible this year.According to him, persistent rain in March may have made the beach unsuitable for nesting. Winter also lingered unusually late, continuing through much of Feb and into the first week of March, conditions that are not considered conducive for mass nesting.“We have a favorable coastal topography, with low human disturbance and abundant marine food. Strict protection measures, including fishing restrictions and beach clean-ups, will continue,” Jadhav said.
