Endangered sea turtles found dead in Bangladesh

Endangered sea turtles found dead in Bangladesh
DHAKA (AFP) — At least 20 endangered turtles have been found dead along the coast of southeastern Bangladesh, an official said Thursday.

The olive-coloured sea turtles are believed to have died after being caught in fishing nets.

"We have found 20 turtles within the last two weeks along the coastline of Cox's Bazar district," said wildlife conservationist Mohammad Abdul Hannan of the government's environment department.

"I fear that more turtles have died and been washed away. We searched 50 kilometres (30 miles) of coastline and I fear that if we search other areas, we may find more," he said.

The turtles, known as Olive Ridleys, are found in the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific region and return to the beach where they were born to nest.

Hannan said fishermen needed to be more aware of how to release the turtles from nets without killing them.

"When the turtles gets caught in the nets, the fishermen simply kill them to save their nets," said Hannan.

The turtles are also hunted for their skin and meat, and are listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
Source: AFP

Bangladesh finds dead turtles on beach
From: Reuters
Published January 17, 2008 02:46 AM

/wildlife/article/29454

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Bangladesh found at lest 40 dead turtles, some weighing 40 kg pounds) or more, on the beach of the Bay of Bengal over the past week, officials said on Thursday.

At least 10 of them were found dead on Thursday.

"I have seen more than a dozen carcasses of turtles, some of them were Olive Reedley, scattered on the vast beach, during my resent tour," a senior ecological official told Reuters in Cox's Bazar, 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka.

The turtles die mostly in winter and last year officials and fishermen reported the death of more than 200 turtles along the Cox's Bazar sea beach. No one seems to know why the sea creatures are dying.

Marine officials believed the turtles died after being caught in fishing nets. But fishermen said they avoided such big turtles, as they often tear their fishing nets and other gears.

Environment experts said the deaths could be caused by increased pollution in the bay, from waste disposal of ships or perhaps other unknown natural causes.

Bangladesh has a 120-km (75 miles) natural beach from Cox's Bazar to Teknaf, which is poorly maintained and monitored.

(Reporting by Mohammad Nurul Islam, writing by Nizam Ahmed)

Source: ENN