The coast appeared from under the clouds on the horizon
rather abruptly. The waves were but thin white lines on the narrow shore. As the
plane descended over the Bay of Bengal, the blue ocean began to get a texture.
And just as it began landing in Vizag, I could see sprays spontaneously dotting
the deep. All this before I had even arrived in Ganjam, Odisha to witness the
mass nesting of olive ridley turtles!
Of the seven surviving species of sea turtles, only two - the
olive ridley and the Kemp’s ridley - display this behaviour of thousands of adult
females laying eggs in very close proximity and simultaneously. Sea turtles
come to land only to lay eggs, the hatchlings of which will swim back into the
sea. Males never return to land, but females do every few years, just for a
night or two, to nest. With the ridleys, at some sites, the females come ashore
in large numbers every season in an event called the ‘arribada’ (Spanish for
arrival). In Sanskášt, that would be Aagaman.
 |
| A turtle arriving at dawn |
As soon as I arrived that night, I dashed off to the beach. The
waves were erupting in bioluminescence, courtesy the light producing microbes
riding on them. As we walked toward the main beach, turtles were crawling
around in dozens and more were emerging from the sea. Many were frantically
looking for spots to dig nests; some were lying around as though defeated from
the enormous effort of carrying hundreds of eggs inland (for all I know, it was
quiet contemplation). The air was filled with a seaweed-y scent.
Nupur and Murali, researchers at Dakshin Foundation, told me
what to look out for with the turtles as we walked. The crowd swelled to the
extent that we had to dodge turtles as they scurried by or lay buried, at every
step. They were certainly not bothered about walking into one another or
anything else. Soon, the beach was full of heavy breathing, busy turtles
spraying sand around, some beating down their sealed nests. This had to be the
largest gathering of animals that I’d ever seen (except perhaps ants) and that
wasn’t going to change anytime soon. And yet more kept emerging from the water,
shells glistening in the moonlight. Their carapaces loaded with bioluminescent microbes
while still wet. Running fingers down their back ignited glowing trails - talk
about magic.
 |
| Turtle tracks on the beach |
The nesting females take their own sweet time finding a spot
- barging into several others in the process - and digging a flask shaped nest.
As often as they abandon a nest halfway, they manage to dig out a nest already
made by another. As a result, eggs in various degrees of squish lie around.
These are literally the shape, size and firmness of ping-pong balls – they even
bounce! The female turtle gets into an inclined position over her nest and
commences laying. They often go into a glazed-eyed, still trance, some eventually
buried under sand from neighbouring diggers.
A dozen humans were walking around the beach counting
turtles and visually documenting them. Our team was conducting transects in
some sectors, counting the number of egg-laying turtles only (not digging,
crawling, covering), every hour. Over the next few days, we happily gave up on
sound sleep to count turtles all night long. We’d also take shell measurements,
and some of us even tracked the egg-laying. It involves making a small window
in the nest once the mother settles in and recording the start and end time,
counting every egg as she lays it.
 |
| Egg laying |
In time, the lady finishes laying the clutch and covers it
with sand, tamping it down with a meticulous flipper-waving, chest-thumping
ritual. The compacted nest is then covered with loose sand, made to look rather
uninteresting, and then the turtles return to the water. Although most of the
activity is concentrated in the dark hours, turtles were still coming ashore at
dawn.
The hatchlings will likely emerge in about 45 days and swim
frantically back into the ocean. Not all eggs hatch, and only a few of the
hundreds of hatchlings actually make it to the ocean. Many are preyed upon by
birds, crabs, dogs and so on. Why the ridleys choose to nest this way and what
triggers the simultaneous congregation has not been entirely deciphered yet.
What is certain is that for these creatures, the strength is in sheer numbers
that swamp their predators. The survival of the handful is the all a
consequence of turtle teamwork.
 |
| Covering the nest |
Magnificent is a small word to describe this phenomenon, but
I imagine you get my drift.
 |
| Heading back into the ocean |
|
