CAPIZ – An olive ridley sea turtle laid eggs on the beach of Barangay Navitas, Panay town.
Villagers counted 127 eggs in total on Dec. 7.
They secured the eggs with the help of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office.
The Capiz Provincial Environment and Natural Office (CaPENRO) commended the people of Barangay Navitas for securing the eggs.
When the eggs hatch, the villagers vowed to see to it that the baby olive ridley turtles all return to the sea safely.
The olive ridley turtle is named for the generally greenish color of its skin and shell, or carapace. They are found only in warmer waters, including the southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Olive ridleys are the smallest of the sea turtles, weighing up to 100 pounds and reaching only about two feet in shell length.
These turtles are solitary, preferring the open ocean. They migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles every year, and come together as a group only once a year for the arribada, when females return to the beaches where they hatched and lumber onshore to nest.
During nesting, they use the wind and the tide to help them reach the beach. Females lay about a hundred eggs, but may nest up to three times a year. The nesting season is from June to December.
Though the Olive Ridley is widely considered the most abundant of the marine turtles, by all estimates, it is in trouble.
Their eggs are taken and nesting females are slaughtered for their meat and skin. Fishing nets also take a large toll, frequently snagging and drowning these turtles./PN
