Hundreds of sea turtles dead on Odisha coast

Turtles dying en masse on Odisha coast
KalingaTimes 5 Jan 10;

The sighting of bloated and motionless bodies of Oilve Ridley sea turtles lends credence to belief that unlawful trawling operation despite prohibition is in full swing along the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary.

Bodies of dead turtles are sporadically dispersed along the stretch of beach from Dhamra to Paradip coast. The unofficial estimate put the toll at more than 5,000 while the forest officials prefer to restrict the toll at 671.

“The turtles' death toll is on the lower side this time. The vigil and surveillance on trawl fishing is stepped up. That's why, the marine visitors are comparatively safer this year”, Prasanna Kumar Behera, divisional forest officer, Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) forest division, on the other hand, claimed.

However, the ground reality is grim and it hardly substantiates officials' claim.

The wildlife activists argue that turtles are dying en-masse in several strategic locations and the accidental death of the mute animals is due to uninterrupted trawling.

“Though marine fishing has been banned along the Gahirmatha water territory under OMFRA, 1982, trawl fishing has become a daily ritual. Turtles are getting hit by trawl propeller and are getting killed. The animals are getting entangled in the mono-filament nets that are being used by fishing trawls. The mute species are dying of asphyxiation,” said Sudhansu Parida, an activist of people for animals.

The beaches at places like Satabhaya, Pentha, Agarnasi and Barunei has turned into a graveyard for the Olive Ridley sea turtles. Any day, one would come across the ghastly sight of rows of decomposed bodies of these delicate marine species with pungent smell emanating from the carcasses, Parida told.

The forest department officials admitted the sighting of turtle carcasses at these places. However, they declined to elaborate on the death toll.