Turtle boom at Goa’s four nesting sites brings cheer

Panaji: Goa’s modest Olive Ridley turtle conservation programme of nearly three decades at four sites is witnessing a boom as the number of flippered visitors making a beeline to these beaches has already touched 135, as compared to 157 nests laid last season.

With 66 arrivals recorded at the Morjim and Mandrem beaches and 69 at Agonda and Galgibaga — a total of 135 with more than two months of a delayed season likely — forest department officials and others are agog about another record season.

At Pernem’s twin sites, Morjim is accommodating 66 pits, including four that were relocated from Vagator, Arambol and elsewhere, while Mandrem is hosting seven nests at a quieter site.

The season began well this time, as the first arrival was recorded in December last year as compared to delays during the past few years.

“With more than two months ahead, the number of nests, 66 at present, is most likely to cross last season’s number of 69,” a forest guard told TOI.

In South Goa, 88 nests had been recorded last season — 67 on Agonda beach that is swamped by tourists, and 21 on the quieter Galgibaga beach. This season, the Agonda hatchery is hosting 52 nests already and Galgibaga 17, a total of 69, just 19 short of the 2023 season.

Four beaches of Pernem and Canacona have been designated as turtle nesting sites under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2011. Several forest guards have been fostering the conservation programme since inception. Four forest guards, Rajan Halarnkar, Dnyaneshwar Takkar, Avelino D’Silva and Vikram Morje, have completed over two-and-a-half decades of service.

The last two seasons have been particularly heart-warming for forest department officials coordinating the conservation since the mid-1990s. This season, like the previous one, four to five visitors unusually followed each other within a gap of a few hours.

“Earlier, the turtles would arrive in singles and two would at the most arrive on a single night,” a forester said.


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