Experts are alarmed as 350 turtles wash ashore dead in Chennai till January 15

Neither the forest department nor the fisheries or coast guard authorities have definite answers on the cause of these deaths.
As many as eight Olive Ridley turtles had beached on a 300-metre stretch on the shores of Injambakkam in Chennai on Wednesday afternoon
As many as eight Olive Ridley turtles had beached on a 300-metre stretch on the shores of Injambakkam in Chennai on Wednesday afternoon Photo | Kevin Nashon
Updated on
3 min read

CHENNAI: With bulging eyes and swollen necks, carcasses of endangered Olive Ridley turtle have been floating in the open sea, off Chennai. More than 350 dead turtles have beached up ashore between the Marina and Kovalam in just 15 days, marking a record number of deaths in the last two decades, said sources.

Neither the forest department nor the fisheries or coast guard authorities have definite answers on the cause of these deaths. Moreover, the forest staff are allegedly burying the carcasses without conducting postmortem, sources said.

The Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTN), which works from Marina to Neelankarai, has recorded 161 turtle deaths as of January 13. From Neelankarai to Kovalam, Tree Foundation has reported close to 200 turtle deaths. The number keeps increasing in the multiples of 10 daily, sources said.

Rajiv Rai, a resident of Injambakkam, has recorded 37 turtle deaths in the past few days in his area alone. On Wednesday, he reported the death of eight turtles in a short stretch of 300 metres at Injambakkam.

Supraja Dharini, founder of Tree Foundation, said, “After Christmas, many of our fishermen volunteers have started reporting a lot of dead turtles floating in the open sea. A majority of these turtles have died due to drowning. Bulging eyes and swollen necks are the visible signs. This predominantly happens when they get entangled in trawl nets and gill nets.”

Multiple sources that TNIE spoke to drew a correlation between the sudden spike in turtle deaths to bumper catch of squid and cuttlefish. There is a suspicion that these turtles might have got entangled in the squid nets, which are laid three nautical miles from shore in the late evening and harvested the next morning.

“Usually, fishermen net 25 kg of squid per trip, but this time they have caught up to 100 kg. To hold such quality, fishermen must have increased the bottom weight to keep the net intact. If a turtle is entangled at night, there is no way it can survive till morning,” a source said.

The forest department cannot bury the carcasses without conducting a postmortem since the Olive Ridley turtle being a schedule-1 species is safeguarded under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. “However, forest staff are only burying the carcasses on the spot,” said Rai, who is also a member of the Madras Naturalists Society.

State Wildlife Board member Shravan Krishnan, who is also a volunteer at SSTN, said, “With the help of coast guards and fisheries, we need to identify the hotspots and breeding grounds and protect them. It should begin as early as September when the turtles arrive for mating.”

“Only 20% of dead turtles are believed to wash ashore. So, the actual number of deaths would be much higher,” he added.

Supraja Dharani also alleged poor enforcement of ban on trawling within 8 km during turtle breeding season. “We see trawl boats sweeping the ocean floor as close as 2-3 km,” she said.

Chennai Wildlife Warden Manish Meena acknowledged that the numbers were alarming, but pegged the figure to be around 200. “My staff found 150-200 carcasses. I have requested Madras Veterinary College and Advanced Institute of Wildlife Conservation to send their teams to conduct a postmortem on fresh carcasses. Most of the carcasses that are found are at least 3-4 days old and decomposed.”

When contacted, Chief Secretary N Muruganandam said, “The government is examining the issue in consultation with the organisations concerned.”

Related Stories

No stories found.

X
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com