Intrigue, surprise over Olive Ridley turtles at Mumbai beach

MUMBAI:AFTER Versova residents filmed baby Olive Ridley turtles on the beach on Thursday morning, the mangrove cell of the forest department said they will investigate the incident to find out if the turtles hatched there or were brought from another site.

Morning walkers and beach clean-up crusaders were pleasantly surprised when they went to Versova beach and spotted newly hatched Olive Ridley turtles waddling into the sea. The hatchlings were first spotted by beach clean-up crusader Afroz Shah and his team at 9.30am near Sagar Kutir Wadi after hatching 30m-35m away from the sea.

Witnesses said around 80 hatchlings emerged from a three-feet-deep pit. But citybased ornithologist and naturalist writer Sunjoy Monga and animal welfare officers were sceptical about the discovery as he said he could not find any egg shells.

“I would be overjoyed if indeed this has occurred, on World Water Day, no less. As soon as I got the news in the afternoon, I rushed to the site. It saw a square pit, several feet at the sides and about 3 feet or so deep, one amongst many dug by some local people who cultivate methi (fenugreek) on the beach edge,” said Monga.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) volunteer Ankit Vyas said he along with other residents rescued seven of the same hatchlings from fenugreek farmers’ homes at Sagar-kutir, Versova. “I will inform the WCCB western region as many local residents have the same species at home. They may have picked them up when they were in the pit. It is also unclear where the egg shells went,” he said.

The state mangrove cell said they will be examining the authenticity of the event.