The mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles began at Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district of Odisha on March 14, 2020.
The Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, considered to be the world’s largest rookery of sea turtles is located within the close vicinity of the Bhitarkanika National Park and is Odisha’s only Turtle Sanctuary. It extendes from Dhamara river mouth in the north to Brahmani river moth in the south.
Nearly 15,000 sea turtles came ashore at Nasi-1 and Nasi-2 islands for arribada, a Spanish term for mass nesting.
The rookery at Gahirmatha was declared a marine sanctuary covering 1,435 square kilometres from Dhamara mouth to Hukitola island in 1997.
Nasi — 1 and Nasi — 2 are two tiny islands that are part of the sanctuary and are six kilometres long.
