Video Of Baby Turtles Making Their First Voyage Will Give You Goosebumps

In yet another effort to protect the endangered species, over 10,000 Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings were released into the sea in Chennai on Monday. It was an initiative taken by the forest department along with non-governmental organisations and their volunteers, who collected the eggs from various districts and transferred them to hatcheries set up on the beaches. Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Supriya Sahu shared a video documenting the incredible journey of the newly hatched Olive Ridleys.

The video clip shows the workers engaged in releasing the hatchlings into the sea in Chennai. Further in her caption, Sahu narrated her experience of watching the baby turtles make their first voyage into the sea from the hatchery at the Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai. She also shared an interesting fact, stating that turtle species date back to the time of the dinosaurs, which means around 200 million years ago.

“Goose bumps to see these tiny baby turtles making their first voyage into the sea from our Forest Department Olive ridley turtle hatchery at the Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai. To realise that these turtle species date back to the time of the dinosaurs, over 200 million years ago is startling. So many incredible facts about these brave babies that will leave you speechless,” she wrote.

Along with that, the IAS officer also shared that these Olive Ridley hatchlings use a temporary “egg tooth” or carbuncle to break open the shell, following which they dig through the sand with the head coming out first. “They also have a yolk sac on their belly to provide nutrients for them to swim and travel when released back into the sea. Miracle of nature truly,” she added.

As soon as the video was shared, social media users took to the comment section and lauded the efforts of the forest department towards protecting the endangered turtles. It is pertinent to note that the Tamil Nadu coast is the important nesting site for the Olive Ridley sea turtles, who come up to the shore to lay eggs from January to May. In the past few years, the Forest Department has stepped up its efforts towards protecting the species by setting up a number of hatcheries across the state. A couple of hatcheries are even equipped with weather monitors to track changes.

So far, around 45 hatcheries have been set up in Tamil Nadu across nine districts.