India, Feb. 22 -- A record 6.41 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles have laid eggs at the Rushikulya rookery in Odisha's Ganjam district till Friday night during the mass nesting season that began this week and lasts till March first week. Wildlife officials and conservationists said on Saturday that this makes an all-time high for the mass breeding site at Rushikulya rookery, which is the largest such site in the country.

The Oidhsa principal chief conservator of forests (PCCDF) (wildlife), Prem Kumar Jha, said that around 6.41 lakh turtles have laid eggs on the Rushikulya sea beach between Podampeta to Bateshwar till Friday night, surpassing the previous highest nesting of 6.37 lakh Olive Ridleys in the 2022-23 season.

Jha said by the time ...