Canacona: Two hatcheries have been set up to incubate about 1,500 olive ridley turtle eggs laid on Agonda beach last month, with more nesting expected next month.Range forest officer (RFO) of South Marine Range, Rajesh Naik, said that recent trends show that nesting mostly takes place in Feb. With favourable weather conditions, many more olive ridleys are expected to arrive next month.The first turtle arrived on Dec 11, 2025, on Agonda beach and laid 145 eggs. The Agonda hatchery has 1,172 eggs ready for incubation in ten nests, and another 421 eggs are awaiting hatchlings in the Galgibaga nursery in four nests. The last turtle arrived at 2am on Jan 22.The RFO said that in addition to the turtles nesting at Agonda and Galgibaga, some are expected to arrive on South Goa beaches, with their eggs later shifted to the protected sites at Agonda and Galgibaga. Last year, 19 nests were shifted to Agonda and Galgibaga nurseries from other beaches. This year, the first nest was transferred on Thursday from Talpona beach to the Galgibaga hatchery, and a similar trend is expected this season.The backbone of Goa’s successful turtle nesting programme is its dedicated patrolling staff, who patrol beaches and relocate eggs to the hatcheries of Agonda and Galgibaga. The team includes Ajay Pagi, Yesu Pagi, Sandip Pagi and Sukash Pagi at Agonda nursery, while Samir Bhandari, Sham Bhandari, Tukaram Metri and Ram Bhandari protect eggs at Galgibaga hatchery.“These staff who do all-round duty, safeguard the eggs laid by the olive ridley from predators,” said Naik.
