| The Olive Ridley turtles were found in plenty about 50 | | | | every year. Most of the hatchings take place in the |
| years ago but they have been hunted down and | | | | night and hence you will have to go in the middle of the |
| poached in thousands for their eggs and meat. Hence | | | | night to see the young ones coming out of their eggs |
| these turtles have not been listed in the endangered | | | | in the big bad world. As soon as they are born, their |
| species list. The Ridley Turtles spend their adulthood in | | | | natural instinct makes them move towards the sea. It |
| the deep seas but they return back to the shores to | | | | is a fantastic sight to see thousands of these young |
| nest. Some of the most prominent nesting sites around | | | | ones finding their way back to the sea where they will |
| India are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as | | | | spend the rest of their lives and come back only to lay |
| near the shores of Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra | | | | eggs as their parents did. |
| Pradesh states. However it is on the shores of Orissa | | | | The eggs are buried deep inside the sand by the |
| where you can see them in prominent numbers. Orissa | | | | mothers to keep them safe from predators. It takes |
| has three most important breeding beaches in the | | | | about two months for the eggs to hatch. However as |
| whole of India and you can go there to see this | | | | mentioned before, not many of these hatchlings |
| wonderful season of the mother turtles coming to the | | | | survive as the nesting sites have been turned into |
| shore to lay their eggs. | | | | graveyards by the local poachers who dig in the sand |
| The best months to visit these serene beaches of are | | | | and then take away all the eggs. Last year, reports |
| between January and March each year. This is the | | | | suggest that about 8,000 turtles at died along the |
| period when about half a million Olive Ridleys come to | | | | coasts of Orissa because of heavy poaching activities. |
| the shore. The three most prominent sites are the | | | | The eggs and the meat are in great demand and they |
| Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary and the mouths of the | | | | are also smuggled out of the country and the |
| river Devi and Rushikulya. You can simple find the | | | | poachers are paid handsomely for their prized |
| numbers of the guides on the internet and find out | | | | catches. |
| more about the sightings, the time of sightings, | | | | We can do our own little to save these turtles from |
| accommodation, meals, etc. | | | | extinction. Remember that the killing will stop when the |
| However Gahirmata in Bhitarkanika sanctuary is the | | | | buying will stop. And you can raise awareness by |
| most popular place to see the Olive Ridleys in action. | | | | publicly speaking and even writing online articles or |
| Here an average of 7,00,000 hatchlings take place | | | | blogging. |