The combined length of the world’s coastline is typically estimated to be 3,56,000 kms as per the CIA World Factbook. Every year, a little part of it – the quiet coastline of Odisha in India to be precise – becomes the arena of an extraordinary natural event. What unfolds here is the spectacular phenomenon of mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles known as arribada (Spanish for “arrival”). This occurrence, where lakhs of female turtles come ashore simultaneously to lay eggs, is a remarkable sight to behold.
