Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: A total of 118 eggs were laid by a female Olive Ridley turtle on Friday morning at the Agonda beach.
The Olive Ridley Eggs Nest is protected and secured by the Forest department near the makeshift Turtle Rehabilitation Center at Agonda.
According to the forest staff, after a delayed start, the female Olive Ridley Turtle was noticed arriving on the shore at about 4.30 am on Friday and left after laying eggs at a location slightly at a distance from the Rehabilitation Center.
The Forest Department contract staff engaged at the Turtle Rehabilitation Center immediately shifted and re-planted the eggs numbering about 118 in the pit and secured the nest with a fishing net to protect from the impending human poaching and threats from animals, including animals dogs.
Further, revealing more details about the Olive Ridley turtles, the forest department staff said the other turtle nesting beach in Canacona is the Galgibaga Beach, which is yet to be visited by the female Olive Ridley Turtle.
The Turtle Nesting season normally begins in October and ends by April next, however in recent years, female turtles are first noticed only either mid or end of December and go on even beyond May month. The forest department attributes this shift to climatic changes.
While Galgibaga turtle nesting is yet to begin, the female Olive Ridley turtle first appeared on Galgibaga beach on 24th December, while Agonda hosted back to back two nests by 15th January after the first one appeared and laid eggs in the mid-second week of that month. More than 1500 Olive Ridley babies were released in the sea from these Two Rehabilitation Centers of Canacona,” staff informed.
