BHUBANESWAR: Carcasses of a large number of Olive Ridley sea turtles and a dolphins were, on Wednesday, found littered along the Bay of Bengal beach from Chakratirtha Road to Digabarini on the outskirts of pilgrim city Puri in Odisha.
What was quite shocking for local residents and nature lovers was that the stray dogs were seen feasting on the dead turtles. “We had never seen so many dead turtles on the Puri beach in the recent past. Everyone, including the authorities should do something about it,” said renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik.
Recently, hundreds of whales and dolphins had beached ashore on the Tuticorin beaches in Tamil Nadu, around 45 of the small-finned whales had died. Sources said the turtles might have been killed after being hit by illegally operating trawlers in the sea.
The forest department officials and marine police were asked to conduct an inquiry into the issue. “We will need to find the reason behind the deaths of such a large number of turtles. The concerned authorities, forest department, marine police will be asked to look into the matter. We will take necessary action to find a solution to the problem”, said Puri district collector Aravind Agrawal.
