Olive Ridley turtle carcasses found along Mamallapuram coast

As the peak olive ridley turtle nesting season is on, carcasses of some of the turtles were found along the Mamallapuram coast this week. Fishermen say they have been spotting the carcasses from Christmas time.

According to forest officials, the deaths are not high as last year when over 1,000 turtles were found dead along the east coast, but there have been some deaths. The Department has been collating the number of deaths along the coast covering a few districts.

“We can’t say the trawlers are the only reason. After last year’s deaths, the patrolling has been intensified. The Forest Department, the coastal security group, and the Elite Marine Patrol Force are doing the rounds in the mornings and evenings,” said a forest official.

Sagar Mithras in every village are getting information and there is a better co-ordination between the agencies involved including the Fisheries Department, said officials. Fishermen have been taught and are releasing the turtles getting entangled in fishing nets, they added.

Along the Mamallapuram coast, the Forest Department is collating the information on the number of deaths and the causes.

Anbu, a fisherman of Mamallapuram, said that he saw a couple of dead turtles on the beach on Wednesday. “They have been washing ashore for over two weeks now. The Forest Department has been conducting post-mortems regularly.”

Kaushik Kumaresan, a college student, said, at times, the dead turtles are not even buried and left on the beach. There are turtles that come to the beach to lay eggs, and there have been cases of stray dogs attacking them. There is not much of an active volunteer effort to save the eggs or turtles in Mamallapuram, he rued.

Naveen of Uyyalikuppam, near Kalpakkam, said that the Fisheries Department has been continuously advising fishermen not to use certain types of nets that could harm turtles. “We have stopped using these nets. The Department has been conducting regular awareness programmes and has also stuck awareness posters in the fishing hamlets. In every village, the Sagar Mithra people take pictures with GPS coordinates daily and then bury the turtles,” he said.