POINGUINIM: The Agonda turtle nursery has great reason to cheer. With 35 Olive Ridley turtles visiting the beach to lay their eggs, this has been the centre’s best season. Its earlier high, 19 turtle nests, was in 2017-18.
The first turtle nest this year was preserved on January 7 and the last pit on March 20. Range forest officer (RFO) Anant Velip said that in all, this season 4,002 turtle eggs from 35 nests have been protected at Agonda.
Ten of these pits have hatched already and wildlife authorities has have released as many as 1,071 hatchlings into the sea.
For the villagers of Agonda, many of whom make their living via the business of shacks, tents and huts, this is almost a vindication of sorts. While government authorities have often said that lights and noise are a hindrance to the nesting process, they in fact feel the turtles are attracted to the music and the lights.
Challenging the authorities to prove their claim, they said that this increasing number of flippered visitors is proof that turtles are least disturbed to either of these factors.