About 20,000 Pacific olive ridley turtles climbed onto the beach of the Rusi River in Orissa, eastern India, on the 5th, preparing to lay eggs.
A local government spokesman said that early on the 5th, about 20,000 Pacific Olive Ridley turtles came ashore. , crowded on the two-kilometer-long narrow Luxi River beach to start making nests and preparing to lay eggs. Biswajit Mohanty, secretary-general of the Odisha Wildlife Conservation Society, said that there are three major sea turtle spawning sites in the state, namely Rusi River Beach, Devi River Beach and Gashirmata Beach. Gashirmata Beach, not far from the Lusi River Beach, is one of the largest sea turtle spawning sites in the world, with approximately 800,000 sea turtles coming there to lay eggs every year. But so far this year there has been no activity at the beaches of Devi River and Gahirmata.
The Pacific Olive Ridley turtle is a world-endangered sea turtle that lays eggs once a year, with each egg laying an average of 120 to 150 pieces, and the incubation period is 45 to 50 days. Research shows that only one out of every 1,000 eggs hatches and survives.
Relevant Indian agencies discovered the sea turtle spawning ground on the Rusi River beach in 1994, but last year the Pacific turtle did not lay eggs on this beach.
