KENDRAPARA (Orissa): Over three hundred carcasses of Olive Ridley Turtles have been found on the placid sand beaches along Orissa's Gahirmatha marine sanctuary for the last one week.
"Bodies of 372 turtles have so far been counted. We have stepped up vigil on unlawful trawl to ensure safety of breeding turtles," said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rajnagar Mangrove Forest division, Prasanna Kumar Behera.
It does not augur well before the onset of Arribada or mass nesting of turtles, said a forest official.
As ghastly scenes of stray dogs feasting on bloated and mutilated bodies of these marine animals are too glaring to escape notice, wildlife activists are shocked over abysmal lack of protective cover to these species.
Unofficial estimates, however, put the casualty figure at more than 1,000. Turtles are dying either by getting entangled in mono-filament fishing nets or being hit by trawls' propellers, claimed wildlife activists.
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