Chennai: In the past few years, Chennai beaches have been welcoming visitors with the gory sight of dead turtles during the turtles’ nesting season.
The Olive Ridley, an endangered species, approaches the shores between December and March with the ocean currents from as far as the Pacific Ocean every year. They come to lay eggs on the shore, as has been the case for the past 180 million years.
However, the mother turtles tend to get injured or die before they reach the shore, for which pollution and plastic floating around near the shore and the fishing nets remain the main factors responsible.
“One must think in terms of curbing the use of plastic and not just in terms of waste management. The Forest Department and the Corporation are the biggest offenders. Instead of holding events to create awareness, they should arm the public with catapults and destroy the streetlights,” said Activist Nityanand Jayaraman.
According to turtle groups, the babies that emerge from the eggs tend to follow the light. As a large number of streetlights have been installed around the beaches, the babies tend to crawl the wrong way to their deaths. “Instead of helping by getting rid of the lights, the corporation is working on installing more streetlights,” added Jayaraman.
“We have recorded 73 turtle deaths between Neelankarai and Alamparai since December 31, 2015. We have had so many cases of turtles approaching the shore with flippers chopped off,” said Supraja Dharini, chairperson of Tree Foundation. “Today alone, we had five injured turtles coming in, she added. The lack of enforcement of various rules is one of the main factors responsible for the turtles dying or getting injured.
“The trawl fishermen are not supposed to fish beyond a certain limit. The turtles get stuck in the nets and their flippers are chopped off by the fishermen,” added Supraja.
The community based organisation, works towards protecting the nesting turtles and rehabilitating them before setting them free into the water.
“We carry out our rescue works with special permission from the Chief Wildlife warden, she added.
