A sea turtle has laid 125 eggs on Cox's Bazar beach. Olive Ridley turtles laid their eggs in Sonarpara area of the beach last Tuesday night. After digging a two-foot hole in the sand, the mother turtle laid her eggs and returned to the sea.
Bangladesh Marine Research Institute (Bori) is located on Pechar Island in Ramur next to this beach. After receiving the news, the scientists of this institution collected the eggs. On Wednesday afternoon, these eggs were surrounded by the sand of Sonarpara beach for breeding and conservation measures were taken, said Director General of Bori, Professor Dr. Touhida Rasheed. He said it will take 60 to 65 days for the eggs to hatch.
During this time, Bori scientists will maintain the hatchery in addition to research. In the hatchery, two holes of about two feet are dug for hatching the eggs.
At the preservation of the eggs, Indian crab expert and biological marine scientist. Gobind Chand Biswal, Senior Scientific Officer of Bori Tariqul Islam, Marine Biodiversity Researcher Ahmad Ghiyas, Scientific Officer of Bori Md. Shimul Bhuiya were present.
Tariqul Islam, Bori's senior scientific officer, said that the Olive Ridley turtle laid 125 eggs and returned to the sea. Last year, a turtle laid 91 eggs on the same beach. These eggs were stored in the natural environment of the beach and breeding was done. 84 healthy hatchlings were hatched there.
He said, turtles start coming to the beach from October every year after the breeding season. Turtles lay eggs till April.
Indian crab expert and biological marine scientist who came to Cox's Bazar for research work. Govind Chand Biswal said public awareness is most important to increase the breeding of tortoises.
Along with the Institute of Marine Research in Cox's Bazar, various organizations including the environmental organization Nature Conservation Management (NECOM) are working on the preservation and reproduction of turtle eggs.