A team of enthusiasts and conservationists joined hands to make the local beaches in Visakhapatnam fit for breeding of olive ridley turtles.
The Visakhapatnam circle of Andhra Pradesh forest along with environmental organisation Wildlife Conservation through Research and Education (WCTRE) organised a beach clean-up drive at the RK Beach.
The nesting season of olive ridley turtles has already begun but the beach sand is covered in litter comprising plastics and other waste. The waste had deterred the turtles from nesting there.
The pollution at the beach has resulted in a decline in number of turtles while the fishing trawlers remain another threat.
These olive ridley turtles arrive in large numbers from Australian shores and the Gulf of Mexico.
Volunteers at the beach cleanup drive collected plastic bottles, disposable spoons, utensils and other waste on Sunday.