Nagapattinam:
As many as 281 olive ridleys, hatched in the artificial hatchery run by Forest Department atKodiakarai, were let into the sea.
Kodiakarai and Vedaranyam areas in Nagapattinam coast attract a large number of olive ridleys (sea turtle) everyyear during the nesting season, which begins in December and continues till March.
The female ridleys travel towards the coast to lay eggs.
Olive ridleys have been classified as endangered species and the wildlife department has set up a hatchery atKodiakarai to hatch the eggs artificially. The life span of ridleys ranges from 60 to 300 years, official sources said.
The Forest Department has set up egg collection centres at six points in Veadaranyam coast.