Samikhsya Bureau
A marvellous sight there at the natural rookeries for the Olive Ridley turtles is now different kind of festival far from the Festival of Democracy that goes on. Spread over a vast expanse of the sea beach along the coat of Bay of Bengal it is a wonderful sight these days with uncountable turtle hatchlings crawling all over to enter the sea.
It remains to be a visual treat for people with special interest in wildlife watch who arrive here to witness one of the most wonderful spectacle of nature.
During the egg laying seasons the scene that it offers itself is really amazing. Lakhs of Oilve Ridleys swimming across from thousands of miles they arrive at sea beaches like Gahirmatha within Bhitarkanika National Park limits, Debi river mouth in Puri and Rushikulya beach in Ganjam the favourite egg laying destinations in Odisha.
In fact this becomes possible because of the homing instinct that the specie has for a particular spot making them undertaking a journey of thousands of kms to lay eggs.
The egg pits or the nesting sites created by the turtles can be counted to over a lakh or so from where the tiny hatchlings emerge out of the eggs post the period of gestation.
Coming out of the eggs these baby turtles are not only exposed to various dangers to their lives but predating creatures also pose a threat to the hatchlings numbering above millions. Even many of them even stray into areas on the vast beach away from the sea to unsafe zones and meet death. Which had necessitated some voluntary efforts from the Forest and Environment department to engage volunteers to help the little turtles to get their way into the Bay of Bengal.
Even some environment friendly visitors can be seen lending a helping hand to the department people to rescue the hatchlings and leave them into the sea.
Despite its geographical isolation the Gahirmatha rookery earned the distinction way back in 1977 and was declared as a Marine sanctuary , barely few hundred metres from the famous Wheeler Island, a strategic defence establishment known for Missile launchings.
Among the three famous rookeries for these turtles, Gahirmatha obviously enjoys significance with two tiny islands like Nasi-1 and Nasi-2 serving as the safe egg laying spots although another island called Babubali has vanished after being swept by the ferocious literal drift of the sea.
Call it island or sand-dunes created by the tidal wrath, places like Nasi still remains an ephemeral phenomenon. Which sometimes pose the challenge for the mother turtles to locate their nesting spots they are comfortable with.
