Vizagites See Off Over 900 Olive Ridley Baby Turtles At RK Beach

Visakhapatnam: Several wildlife enthusiasts came to the RK Beach here on Sunday to see off the Olive Ridley sea turtle hatchlings. Under the supervision of District collector A Mallikarjuna and district forest officer Ananta Shankar, over 900 hatchlings were released in the sea waters. People who gathered at the beach were seen recording the videos of Olive Ridley hatchlings taking baby steps towards the sea as children cheered for the cute tiny sea turtles. 

The fishermen and guards from the forest department kept a vigil on this part of the beach from the predators to protect the eggs laid by the adult sea turtles in December and January. The department has been taking care of this ‘vulnerable’ species for the past several years. The officials have conserved 13,000 plus eggs compared to last year. As per reports, the release of hatchlings into the sea began on March 6 this year and so far 3,300 baby turtles were nudged towards the sea waters.