The endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have started nesting on the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district in the state of Orissa on Monday.

Around 6000 female of these turtles appeared on the beach and then crawled on the long 5 km beach and made holes to lay eggs. The Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer A K Jena said the turtles started hurdling late on Monday night.

The turtles covered the holes after laying the eggs and returned to the see. This season the egg laying is delayed for over a month however it is not a rare incident, according the Mr. Jena.

The environmentalists have not yet found the reason behind delayed nesting however they warn of probable danger to the eggs due to beach erosion. During the summer the waves are higher and also the winds are speed is fierce which could cause erosion of the beach.

"Whenever the mass nesting occurs in the second week of March, large number of eggs gets destroyed," said a wild life expert. The eggs usually take 30-45 days to hatch.