1,500 dead Ridleys wash up on Odisha coast

Kendrapada: Around 1,500 carcasses of Olive Ridley sea turtles recently washed ashore along a 25km stretch from the Jatadhari river mouth in Jagatsinghpur district to Eakakula beach within Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapada, which is the world’s largest rookery of the species.Kapilendra Pradhan, the forest range officer of Gahirmatha sanctuary, said, “The turtles got entangled in the trawlers’ fishing nets and died.” The state govt has imposed a fishing ban inside the Gahirmatha sanctuary — about 20 km off the coast — from Nov 1 to May 31 to protect the turtles. Forest teams also carry out surprise raids to prevent fishing in the prohibited zone. Kapilendra said that the nets were found outside the sanctuary’s limits, where fishing is not prohibited.

“However, strong winds push the carcasses ashore along the Gahirmatha coast,” he said, adding, “We bury the dead turtles near the beach to prevent pollution.”“Many carcasses bear injury marks, suggesting they were trapped either in trawl or gill nets,” Hemant Rout, secretary of the Gahirmatha Marine Turtles and Mangrove Conservation Society, said.Besides fishing nets, turtles also face threats from animals and birds, experts said.

There are many marine creatures like catfish and sharks that prey on turtles, while bright lights also disturb them, leading to stress. Though high-decibel sound minimally affects them, its impact can’t be entirely ruled out, the experts added.The sight and stench of the dead turtles has begun to drive tourists away from Siali, Satabhaya, Pentha and Paradip beaches in Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur, affecting local shopkeepers and hotel owners dependent on tourist footfall.“The foul smell is spreading across the area and tourists are reluctant to visit the beach. Forest officials bury only a few carcasses in shallow pits, leaving the beach littered with dead turtles,” Balabhadra Sahoo, a shop owner at Siali, one of the most popular beaches under Erasama block in Jagatsinghpur, said.“The stench has dashed our hopes as tourists avoid the area,” Anam Behera, a tea stall owner at Paradip beach, said.Onlookers and tourists who stumbled upon the carcasses voiced their anguish. “It’s heartbreaking to see dead turtles scattered on the beach,” 27-year-old Brajesh Sahoo, who visited Paradip beach on Tuesday, said. “On Monday, I counted nearly 40 dead turtles on the stretch of beach close to my quarters,” 60-year-old Sarat Rout, a retired Class-IV employee of Paradip port, said.Gahirmatha was declared a marine sanctuary in 1997 to safeguard the species.

“Due to the fishing ban, 6,06,933 turtles laid eggs between March 5 and March 10 on Nasi-1, Nasi-2 and Eakakulanasi islands within Gahirmatha,” Kapilendra said.According to the Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982, trawlers must fish beyond five kilometres from the coast and beyond 20km inside the marine sanctuary. “But hundreds of trawlers violate the law and fish close to the shore, leading to the turtles’ death,” Hemant added.We have arrested 345 marine fishermen and seized 38 fishing vessels, including two each from West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, since Nov 1 for illegal fishing inside the sanctuary. We have also seized 3,315.30 quintals of fish from these vessels,” Kapilendra said.Hemant alleged that forest and wildlife officials under-report the number of dead turtles to the govt. “Such large-scale deaths every year will severely impact the population of the endangered species,” he said.He added that the risk can be significantly reduced by installing turtle excluder devices (TEDs) — a small metal grid or net inside trawl nets that allows turtles to escape while retaining the fish catch. “But enforcement of TED use is nowhere in sight,” he said.