898 turtle eggs laid in one day in Canacona

Canacona: Eight turtles visited three beaches in Canacona to nest on Thursday, and laid 898 eggs – the highest number in a single day this season. Forest department staff recorded the arrival of four Olive Ridleys at Agonda beach, two each at Galgibaga and Rajbhag-Tarir.

Both have been shifted to Agonda Tortoise Rehabilitation Center (TRC) in Rajbhag-Tarir.

This was the highest number ever seen in a single day on the two beaches of Canacona, taking the number of turtle nesting sites to 32, along with 3,317 on both turtle-nesting beaches, said Rajesh Naik, range forest officer, South. The total number of eggs increased. Marine Range. The total count for the first day was 898 eggs.

At dawn on Thursday, forest staff posted at the rehabilitation center at Agonda excavated four different locations along the 2.7 km coastline and transplanted the eggs to the nesting site here.
While two turtle nests were also excavated at Rajbagh, 201 turtle eggs were implanted in two separate pits at Agonda TRC.

As we approach the peak of turtle season, forest rescue workers are extra vigilant and are expecting more turtle eggs to be found on both the beaches, Naik said.

The Agonda TRC is currently protecting 23 of the 24 turtle pits at their nesting site. On November 16, 2023, the first crater, which contained 150 eggs, was destroyed as all the eggs failed to hatch. Naik suspects that heavy unseasonal rains during the first and second week of January have caused irreparable damage to the turtle eggs.