High tide threat might prompt Forest Department to relocate these eggs to safer rehabilitation site
The first turtle nesting pit at Morjim beach.
PERNEM
Morjim got its first turtle nesting pit of the season when an Olive Ridley turtle arrived at the Temwada area of Morjim beach at about 9.30 pm on Friday and laid 99 eggs.
A team from the forest department later relocated these eggs to a protected site on the beach.
There have, however, been concerns that seawater during high tide has begun reaching the area earmarked for turtle nesting pits, making the 500 sq metre Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) unsafe for the protection of eggs. This may compel the forest department to consider reserving another location for the TRC.
The sea turtle conservation campaign has been implemented at the Temwada area of Morjim beach since 1997. Last year, a record 206 sea turtles laid eggs, amid fears from environmentalists that Olive Ridley turtles would avoid laying their eggs due to noise pollution in the area. Morjim and Mandrem beaches have been declared sensitive zones on account of the sea turtle conservation campaign.
Incidentally, the other TRC at Agonda beach got its first turtle nesting pit of the season in the early hours of December 11, when an Olive Ridley turtle laid 145 eggs at about 5.45 am. The South Goa Marine Range (SGMR), with Galgibaga as its headquarters, operates TRCs with nesting sites at Agonda and Galgibaga.
