[ti:In India, Sudden Sea Turtle Deaths Cause Concern]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-01-31]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Over 400 dead sea turtles have been found on India's east coast near the city of Chennai in the last two weeks. 
[00:12.38]Those numbers have not been seen in more than 20 years.
[00:17.91]The species of turtle is known as olive ridley.
[00:22.09]The animals travel thousands of kilometers for ideal places to lay their eggs along India's coast.
[00:30.34]But that process, called nesting, has become more difficult because undisturbed beaches are becoming harder to find around the world. 
[00:41.31]And, mass deaths like these can be caused by fishing nets that can catch and harm the species.
[00:50.88]Shravan Krishnan is a volunteer with Chennai-based Students Sea Turtles Conservation Network. 
[00:58.86]He told The Associated Press that in a usual year, there are between 100 to 200 adult turtle deaths on the city's coast.
[01:10.52]"This year, we've already crossed 200 dead turtles in a little more than two weeks," he said.
[01:19.02]Krishnan is also concerned about the low number of turtles nesting on shore. 
[01:25.15]He and other conservationists walk along the city's beaches at night to collect and move turtle nests.
[01:34.97]They do so to prevent the eggs from being eaten by dogs or damaged by people walking along the coast.
[01:42.69]"We have found only four nests so far, which is also really worrying," Krishnan said.
[01:49.51]Environmentalists and forest department officials have been seeing at least ten dead turtles every day for the past few days, sometimes many more.
[02:02.48]That is the highest number officials have seen since 2014. 
[02:07.69]Experts say the deaths are most likely caused by large fishing nets that are pulled along the ocean floor.
[02:16.30]Manish Meena is in charge of the city's wildlife.
[02:21.55]He said groups have been actively trying to inform people involved in fishing to release turtles that might get caught in nets. 
[02:31.06]They have also asked the coast guard to watch for illegal fishing activity.
[02:38.26]Fishing boats using giant nets that catch everything on the ocean floor are barred by a local government order from operating within five nautical miles of the coastline during the turtle nesting season. 
[02:54.05]The law also requires the use of devices that can help turtles escape nets.
[02:59.98]Shantanu Kalambi is an ocean animal specialist with the conservation organization ReefWatch. 
[03:08.53]He said that when the turtles get caught in nets, they are unable to come up to the surface for air. 
[03:16.15]And environmentalists say the crews of fishing boats do not always use the devices to help turtles escape, since they reduce how many fish they can catch.
[03:28.41]Olive ridley turtles are considered an endangered species.
[03:33.42]Just like most sea turtles, their eggs need two months to hatch.
[03:38.90]This places them at higher risk because of coastal land activity, warmer temperatures and pollution from light.
[03:48.13]Farther up India's east coast, over 500,000 turtles nest every year. 
[03:55.74]But only one in about 1,000 turtle babies that hatch survives to adulthood.
[04:02.65]Experts say the turtles are important to the balance of the ocean ecosystem.
[04:09.45]"As a species, they are millions of years old and they play an essential role in the food chain," Kalambi said.
[04:19.13]I'm Jill Robbins.