CHENNAI: Nine Olive Ridley turtles washed ashore on a single evening on Saturday at Injambakkam.
Rajiv Rai, a 70-year-old local resident who was at the beach with his grandchildren, told TNIE: “All carcasses were fresh and found within a distance of 400 metres.”
Rai said it was mysterious since carcasses bore no injury marks or deep cuts near the neck or legs, usually caused by fishing nets. “This is alarming. Generally, mother turtles who travel near the shore for nesting get killed due to trawler blade hits or get entangled in fishing nets and die of suffocation. But, these deaths are strange and need to be investigated.”
The pictures shared with TNIE show the turtle carcasses were fresh, indicated by shiny skin and clear eyes. Chennai Wildlife Warden Manish Meena sent a team to take stock of the situation.
Godwin Victor, a resident of Akkarai, said there were six turtle carcasses on Akkarai beach a week ago. “I saw two mother turtles laying eggs and died immediately thereafter. Again, there were no visible injury marks.”
Manish Meena said awareness programmes are being conducted for fisher folk on what to do when they see a turtle in distress. He said the Olive Ridleys have started to come to Chennai shores for nesting and the season would peak by the month end. All the protective measures are in place.