50,000 Olive Ridley eggs collected in Chennai

CHENNAI: Even as the Olive Ridleys coming to nest along the Chennai coasts has ended, the Chennai division of the State Forest Department has collected more than 50,000 turtle eggs for secured hatching.

A senior wildlife official of the division said that 464 nests were identified during the ongoing season and 50,800 eggs were collected.

The number of eggs collected in the current season is the second highest since 2020-21. In 2021-22, the forest department had collected 55,713 eggs. The collected eggs would hatch until the end of May.

A field staff in the department explained that the turtles coming to the shore had stopped a few days ago. “Now, the eggs hatch on a daily basis and released into the sea. The number of eggs collected is unexpectedly high considering the mass deaths of turtles,” he added.

He clarified that the Olive Ridleys that washed ashore dead a few weeks ago were from the Andhra Pradesh coasts. “They got entangled in fishing nets and drowned to death. The wind and current brought the carcass to the Chennai coasts. Turtles nesting in Andhra coasts are smaller than the ones nesting here. Most of the dead turtles were smaller in size,” he pointed out.

For the last five years, foresters have been noticing a turtle with a missing hind flapper returning to Chennai coast for laying eggs. “We’re noticing this particular turtle continuously for five years. We’ve even helped the turtle dig its nest. It would dig using its only hind flapper and we would use our hands. This year also, it came to the shore, and we could identify its tracks,” the staff stated.

Olive Ridleys return to the same shore, from where they hatched, every year to lay eggs every year. During January and February, more than 1,000 dead turtles washed ashore after entangled in fishing nets.