Braving hostile conditions, Olive Ridley turtles have crawled to the Thottappally coast in good numbers this season.
According to turtle conservationists, a record number of 21 nests with over 2,000 eggs have been found between Thottappally harbour and Pallana so far, compared to 12 a year ago. Among the nests, four were found in a small area between Thottappally harbour and Thottappally pozhi (sandbar at sea mouth) despite disturbances caused by ‘mineral sand-mining’. Conservationists also stumbled upon three nests a few metres south of the pozhi. The remaining 14 were found at Pallana.
Last year, Olive Ridleys had given Thottappally, including the area between the harbour and pozhi, a complete miss as all the nests were found at Pallana.
