The authorities in Tamil Nadu have released 80 Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings into the sea.
The officials said Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (GoMMNP) authorities release turtle hatchlings into the sea on Sunday morning.
GoMMNP has released 2,263 turtle hatchlings after the nesting season started this year, the officials said. It is home to five turtle species namely Olive Ridley, Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, and Loggerhead turtles.
Olive Ridleys are the predominant species nesting in the Ramanathapuram coast at places like Kannirajapuram, Mukkaiyur, Oppilan, Erwadi, Sethukarai, Puthumadam, Mandapam, Ariyaman, Alagankulam, Atrankarai, Puthuvalasai, Pamban, Kunthukal and Dhanushkodi areas.
However, the turtle nests are in perpetual danger of elements like dogs and humans poaching the eggs for food.
The indiscriminate littering along the coast attracts the dogs who detect the nests through their strong sniffing skills and eat the eggs. To protect the turtle eggs, the GoMMNP deploys anti-poaching watchers and sets up hatcheries when the turtles start arriving at the shore to lay eggs, it said.
The authorities said the park authorities collected 16,789 turtle eggs from 153 nests, and they have been shifted to the hatcheries.
The Mandapam Wildlife Range maintains four hatcheries, two at Dhanushkodi, Paradi, and Mukuntharayarchathiram on the coast. As the eggs hatch, the hatchlings are released into the sea. So far, 2,263 hatchlings have been released into the sea, according to officials.
