Team Herald
CANACONA: A total of five Olive Ridley turtles visited Agonda beach for nesting this season laying a total of 450 eggs till now.
The fifth sea turtle belonging to the reptile group arrived on the beach in the wee hours of Wednesday and laid 98 eggs in a conical nest about one and a half feet deep which she laboriously dug with her hind flippers, the entire process of laying eggs took about one hour.
The eggs were later retrieved and kept at a specially made enclosure on the northern side of Agonda beach by the staff of the forest department.
Sources from forest department entrusted with safety of the Olive Ridley turtle visiting Agonda beach, said that till date five sea turtles visited the beach and laid 450 eggs.
The first turtle had laid 90 eggs on the beach in October and the hatchlings from this pit were released in the sea water on December 12.
Last year, a total of 28 female Olive Ridley turtles had visited and laid about 3000 eggs which were retrieved and kept in a special secluded enclosure on the beach and after hatching all the hatchlings were released in the sea.
Normally the nesting starts from September and runs till May.
