Konark, April 12: As many as 404 baby Olive Ridley sea turtles were spotted crawling towards the Bay of Bengal after emerging from eggshells along Chandrabhaga breach hatchery in Odisha coast.
The baby turtles started to crawl towards the sea after forest personnel reached them near the sea on Thursday from the temporary hatcheries made under Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary.
As many as 11,558 eggs were collected from different places in Chandrabhaga beach by April 4 and were kept in 102 hatching holes in sand under protection. Security arrangements have been made for safety of the sea guests.
The baby turtles have started emerging from eggshells after 45 to 50 days. In the first batch, 404 hatchlings were released to sea yesterday, said Sudarshan Dehury of Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary.
Notably, millions of Olive Ridleys come to Rushikulya beach in Ganjam district and Gahiramatha beach in Kendrapara district for nesting between March 8 and 13. This time the phenomenon was delayed by a month due to untimely rain and rough sea.
