The nesting season of the Olive Ridley turtles at the Gahirmatha beach in Orissa begins in January and lasts till March. However, this year they have still not yet begun nesting. The beach is the largest nesting ground in the world ( Down To Earth , Vol 7, No 2).

Even though a large number of turtles were spotted off the coast, only 20 have come to the shore to lay eggs. The Orissa coast has three rookeries at the mouth of the Devi and Rushikulya rivers. It is common knowledge that fishing trawlers are responsible for killing these turtles. The turtles can stay underwater for a maximum of 30 minutes. But when they surface for air, they get entangled in the trawler nets which can be as long as five kilometres. As trawlers sweep the water for up to two hours at a stretch searching for fish