Have you ever witnessed a baby sea turtle’s first journey towards sea water with its small baby steps? Though it’s a rare sight I was fortunate enough to capture the moment in Velas Turtle Festival. Velas is a small village in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra which is famous for the Olive Ridley turtle population that visits the Velas beach every year and lays their eggs. These eggs are protected by the local villagers and an NGO named Sahyadri Nisargmitra and help them hatch. Then the newly born baby turtle heads straight towards the sea with those baby steps. It’s truly an unforgettable moment to witness the first journey of this endangered species of Olive Ridley sea turtle. Here are some moments of this amazing event :
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- It started crawling straight towards the sea.
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- “Here I come mamma”
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- Those tiny footprints …
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- A few more steps buddy ..
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- Almost there ..
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- Yes .. I did it, I did it
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- We also had this tiny friend of the baby turtle, cheering from the sideline..