Over 500 dead Olive Ridley turtles wash ashore in Tamil Nadu: Report
The carcasses were too decomposed to determine the cause of death, but experts suggested the animals were likely strangled in the nets of illegal trawlers.
Over 500 dead Olive Ridley turtles have washed ashore along the coasts of Tamil Nadu’s Chennai and Kancheepuram in recent weeks, prompting the National Green Tribunal to take suo motu cognizance and issue notices to the fisheries and forest departments, as well as the state’s Coastal Zone Management Authority, The New Indian Express reported.
Olive Ridley turtles typically arrive near the Tamil Nadu coast to breed in September and October, with their nesting season spanning from late November to March. While deaths during nesting season are not rare, The Indian Express reported that the unusually high number of carcasses found this year has sparked concerns.
The carcasses of the turtles were too decomposed to determine their exact cause of death, The Hindu reported. However the forest department and Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University found signs of bloating and bulging eyes – suggesting possible suffocation.
It is suspected that the turtles died near the shore between Chennai’s Kasimedu and the southern Andhra Pradesh coast after they were trapped in the nets of trawlers illegally carrying out commercial fishing, The New Indian Express reported.
“Olive ridley turtles have to swim up to the sea surface to breathe,” K Sivakumar, a professor at the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University told The Indian Express. “If they get tangled in nets, they asphyxiate and die.”
He added that the unusually high number of deaths this year could be attributed to larger numbers of fish near turtle gathering areas, which would attract more trawlers.
There is a ban on fishing by mechanised vessels within five nautical miles of the coast in potential turtle nesting and breeding sites between January and April. However, an unidentified fisherman told The New Indian Express that they prefer fishing within three to five nautical miles of the coast due to rougher conditions in the deep sea at this time of the year.
“We prefer fishing near Pulicat and south Andhra because of the clearer water and better catch,” the fisherman added.
