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As the day breaks, scores of tiny heads of turtle hatchlings, with twinkling eyes, suddenly pop out of the golden sand beach, take a precautionary look around and breathe the fresh salty air of the Arabian Sea nearby. And then, at top ‘turtle speed’, they embark on their mission — to the inviting cool sea waters, even as over a couple of thousand excited nature lovers and foreigners witness this miracle. It is that time of the year again at the quiet but beautiful Velas beach in the Konkan region’s Ratnagiri district. The annual Turtle Festival, which kicked off on February 19, will continue till the emergence of the tiny turtle hatchlings, mostly of the Olive Ridley species, which can grow to around 4 feet in length. "It is the culmination of a lengthy process, which starts around November, when under the protective cover of darkness, weary female turtles emerge from the rolling sea waves to lay their clutches of around 120 eggs on the sandy beach here," Bhau Katdare, head of the NGO, Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra (SNM), which organises the annual festival, said. Oblivious to the world that awaits them, the tiny hatchlings march in scores and hundreds to the nearby horizon — the lashing sea waves — even as hordes of nature lovers and tourists marvel at the phenomenon. This year, more than 2,000 nature lovers, including many foreign tourists, shall converge for the annual Turtle Festival. For the first time, the fest hosted by SNM has got the official participation of the Forest Deparment, the Velas Gram Panchayat and the Kasav Mitra Mandal, said Katdare. "This year, erratic climatic conditions, including the late onset of winter, have made it difficult to predict the exact dates on which the turtle hatchlings will emerge from their eggs," Katdare said. Incidentally, this is the second festival in less than eight weeks in the picturesque coastal Konkan region. In the last week of December, the Kirat Trust held its first Turtle Festival at the Vengurla beach in Sindhudurg district bordering Goa. Considering the importance of sea turtles in the marine ecosystem, SNM undertook a mission to protect marine turtles and their eggs and has ensured the safe release of hatchlings in the past nine years. "We have successfully implemented the project in 36 villages across the coast of Maharashtra, protecting 681 nests and releasing nearly 35,000 turtle hatchlings into the Arabian Sea," a proud Katdare said. He said while the giant sea green turtles, which can measure up to 13 feet, are rare here, the olive ridleys come in large numbers for the nesting season in November and will continue all of February. — IANS
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