Hundreds of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles along with a bottlenose dolphin washed ashore were found at Puri beach in Odisha on Wednesday. The carcasses found on the beach near Pantha Niwas were recovered by Forest department officials. The district collector ordered for an inquiry.
The turtles were lying scattered, ranging from Digabarini and Chakratirtha Road of the Puri Beach in the morning. The carcasses of the dead turtles have been sent for the post-mortem to study the facts leading to their death. “We suspect that the turtles were killed after being hit by the fishing trawlers in the sea,” said Sarat Chandra Behera, an official of the Puri-Balukhand forest range, adding that the carcasses have been sent for post mortem.
The turtles in large number come to Gahirmatha, mouth of rivers Devi and Rushikulya in Odisha coast, for annual nesting, as stated by the officials present over the scene. The locals suspect that the main reason for the death of the turtles is the illegal trawlers operating in the area.
Though there is a prohibition on fishing in 20 km distance from the beach in these three identified places, the trawler operators undertake fishing illegally there, Behera said. However the true reason is yet to be acknowledged.
Very recently, scores of whales were washed ashore to the Chennai beach. Despite all efforts made by the locals and fishermen, at least 45 of them died while the rest were rescued and put back in the sea.
Internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik, who had created sand sculptors on the beach said, “Today, I found hundreds of dead turtles at the beach. I felt sad to see such a huge number of dead turtles”. Patnaik appealed to the government through sand sculpture to find out the cause of death of turtles. He left a message with the art saying ‘Give Us Space To Live’.