Olive Ridley turtles lay eggs in Maharashtra after Odisha; experts say feat recorded for first time

AN Olive Ridley turtle has opened up a plethora of research avenues for experts after becoming the first recorded instance of a member of the species laying eggs on the east and west coasts of the country.

- PBD BUREAU/PTI

The Olive Ridley turtle, tagged at Wheelers Island in Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary on Odisha coast on March 11, 2023, has swum around 3,600 km through the Bay of Bengal to lay eggs in Guhagar beach in Maharashtra, prompting experts to emphasise the need for an elaborate scientific study of their migration behaviour.

The turtle, which had dug a hole at Guhagar beach with its flippers and laid 120 eggs, was spotted by the mangrove cell till late morning hours on January 27 this year when it was on its way back to the ocean, an official said.

It was noticed that the turtle had been tagged with the initials ZSI and the number 03233, he said.

Basudev Tripathy, a senior Zoological Survey of Indian scientist, said this was the first recorded instance of a turtle that had previously nested on Odisha’s coast migrating such a long distance to lay eggs.

“Generally, turtles tagged at Odisha nesting grounds to study their migration behaviour do not travel such long distances. Earlier, some tagged turtles were rescued from the northern coast of Sri Lanka by fishermen. However, there has been no history of turtles tagged in the eastern state nesting in Sri Lanka,” he pointed out.

What makes the development significant is that for the first time it has been recorded that an Olive Ridley turtle has laid eggs on both the coasts of India, said Varun Manjrekar, the deputy director at Mangrove Foundation.