Plastic litter along Odisha coast a hazard for olive ridley hatchlings

Plastic litter along Odisha coast a hazard for olive ridley hatchlings

The Rushikulya rookery in Odisha’s Ganjam district is among the most important turtle rookeries in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) converge here to lay eggs in a synchronous mass nesting event or arribada, with almost 700,000 olive ridleys coming ashore to lay eggs in February 2025 alone.However, plastic pollution and its associated problems plague this important 10-km stretch alon…