CANACONA
The forest department will be pleased with its ambitious project to protect the Olive Ridley turtle, as Agonda beach recorded an all-time high of about 5,100 Olive Ridley eggs in 50 pits on Thursday.
According to sources, the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) in Agonda already had 45 pits for the Olive Ridley eggs till March 11.
Then, five Olive Ridley turtles arrived at Agonda beach this week.
On Monday, an Olive Ridley turtle laid 76 eggs at 5.32 pm, while another turtle laid 105 eggs at 5 am on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, three turtles arrived at different times and laid 104 eggs at 1.45 am, 98 eggs (2.08 am) and 112 eggs (5.52 am)
Most of the pits have been set up at the Agonda TRC after the staff appointed by the forest department collected eggs laid at different sites along the beach.
Incidentally, the staff were in for a pleasant surprise when one Olive Ridley turtle arrived near the Agonda TRC on February 24 and laid her eggs very close to the existing pits.
The staff decided not to erect a separate pit and merely cordoned off the area. As a result, they were unaware of the exact number of eggs protected in the pit.
According to the South Marine Range Forest Officer, around 5,100 eggs are being protected in the 50 Pits at Agonda TRC, which is an itself an all-time record.
Meanwhile, the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) of Galgibaga, the taluka’s other hatchery and headquarters of the South Marine Range, recorded its 15th pit with 116 eggs on Sunday.
The Galgibaga TRC has 10 pits of eggs brought from Baina (57 eggs), Cavelossim (45) Carmona (147), Rajbgag (126 and 114) and eggs of five pits from Talpona.
Incidentally, five pits from Galgibaga have also hatched and about 325 Olive Ridley hatchlings were released into the sea on Thursday afternoon.
