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Over 1300 turtles killed along Orissa coast

Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar

Over 1300 endangered Olive Ridley turtles have been killed along the Orissa coast by fishing trawlers in the last few days.

This shocking finding was revealed by the Wildlife Society of Orissa after its latest survey along the 480 km long Orissa coast line.

"Thousands more might get killed by trawler nets during the month of January when they mate," secretary of the Wildlife Society of Orissa Mohanty said.

According to him, 842 dead turtles were found at Gahirmatha, 436 at Devi coast and 110 at Chilika coast.

Wildlife experts in the state forest department also confirmed that hundreds of turtles have been killed recently, and apprehend that many more could die over the next few months.

The experts pointed that the death figure is likely to go up due to rampant illegal fishing

They said the turtles get entangled in the trawler nets, which may be up to 5 km long.

Turtles cannot stay underwater for more than half an hour and need to come up for air. The trapped turtles die of suffocation by the time the nets are drawn, the experts said.

Though protected under Wildlife Protection Act, more than 18,000 turtles had been killed during the previous year in the Orissa coast.

Over the last 5 years nearly 75,000 sea turtles have been killed in the Orissa coast.

"This has grave implications for the long-term survival of the turtles as mature breeding adults are being killed," Mohanty told rediff.com.

Every winter, crossing thousands of miles on the Pacific and Indian Ocean, the Olive Ridley turtles reach along the Orissa coast for their mass nesting.

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