Over the weekend, thousands of turtles from the Olive Ridley family reached the coastline of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal for nesting season. The turtles dig sand, lay egs and cover it with leaves in an attempt to keep the eggs warm enough for healthy hatching.
This particular species of chelonian is not only the most abundant family of sea turtles on Earth, but also the second smallest in terms of size. In 2019, an estimated 470,000 turtles had nested in these region.
On Monday, pictures and videos from Odisha’s Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district surfaced on social media, sending netizens sitting at home trying to stay safe from the spread of Coronavirus -- into a less gloomy world.
— Aniruddha Ghosal (@aniruddhg1) March 16, 2020
— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) March 16, 2020
— Ramesh Pandey IFS (@rameshpandeyifs) March 16, 2020
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) March 15, 2020
An international tourist in Goa carved out a piece of huge sand art of an Olive Ridley turtle on a beach, pictures of which also made the rounds on social media.
— 🚣 Olly Cyclist Soumya 🐢🚴 (@OllyBoyOdisha) March 16, 2020
In a bid to protect turtles during nesting time, the state government has imposed a ban on fishing inside the sanctuary until May 31. The government has also deployed dozens of forest guards to protect the turtles and their eggs.
