Tamil Nadu: Forest range officials collect 927 Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs in Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi: The Mandapam forest range officials on Thursday collected 927 Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs from eight nests on a stretch between MR Chathiram and Arichalmunai on the Dhanushkodi seashore. This was the highest number of eggs collected on a single day so far in the current season in Tamil Nadu's Dhanushkodi.

Led by forest range officer S Sathish, turtle watchers and anti-poaching guards were on a routine early morning stroll looking for turtle tracks, when they found as many as eight nests of Olive Ridley sea turtles filled with eggs on the stretch.

Six nests had more than 100 eggs, and a nest in Arichalmunai had 141 eggs which was the maximum in a single nest, Sathish said.

The turtle watchers amassed a huge collection after collecting 850 eggs from seven nests on Tuesday, bringing the total of the two-day collection of eggs to 1,777. The eggs were safely shifted to the incubator at MR Chathiram.