Turtles washing up dead on Cox's Bazar seashore

Dead turtles are washing up in a significant number on the Cox's Bazar sea beach now-a-days creating concern among the authorities and those related to oceanography.

Sources said turtles are dying in their hundreds after getting entangled in illegal fishing nets in the Bay of Bengal. Many of the turtles die after getting struck by large boats or trawlers in sea.

These dead turtles are washing up at different points on the beach in the tidal water. In addition, there are also cases of turtles dying after being attacked by dogs while laying eggs on the beach.

According to a private organisation, in three months and 10 days from January 1 to April 10 this year, about 290 dead turtles washed up at more than 50 points on the Cox's Bazar beach. The dead turtles were of the Olive Ridley species.

Of these, 90 per cent turtles had injury marks on their bodies and eggs in their stomachs.

On April 8, four dead turtles washed up at three points on the beach in a single day. Earlier, three more drifted onto the beach on April 7.

According to sources, at least 50 dead turtles have washed up at nine points along the 100-kilometer beach from Shahparir Dwip in Teknaf to Maheshkhali-Sonadia in the last 10 days.

HM Faridul Alam Shahin, general secretary of the Cox's Bazar unit of Dhoritri Rokhay Amra (DHORA), said that most of the turtles that washed up had injury marks on their bodies.

He said that one of the reasons for the mother turtles' death is that at least 20,000 unauthorised nets (behundi, gillnets and current nets) have been buried along the sea coast.

Turtles are getting trapped and dying in these nets. Occasionally, the Coast Guard and Fisheries Department conduct raids and seize some nets, but most of them remain outside the purview of the operations.

A few days ago, two dead Olive Ridley turtles washed up on Nazirartek beach in Cox's Bazar town. Some dogs were dragging those along. A few fishermen were repairing nets on the sand a little away from the turtles. As the stench of the dead turtles spread, the fishermen dug holes in the sand and buried the carcasses.

Local fishermen said that almost every day, more than one dead turtles wash up on this beach.

All the turtles have injury marks on their bodies and eggs in their stomachs. Beach dogs eat these eggs. When a turtle gets caught in a net, fishermen onboard trawler beat it to death hitting with sticks. Then the dead turtle is thrown into the sea. There is a superstition among fishermen that if a turtle gets caught in a net, no more fish will be caught in that net. For this reason, they are beaten to death with sticks.

Local residents of the coast said that three dead turtles washed up in the Shahparir Dwip area a few days ago. Each of the turtles weighed 20-30 kg. None of them had legs, and some had bloody wounds on their upper body part (back).

Abdul Qayyum, natural resources management and climate change manager of the non-governmental organisation Nature Conservation Management (NCOM), said that turtles play a unique role in maintaining the balance of marine biodiversity by cleaning the sea of garbage and weeds and eating jellyfish that eat fish fry.

Mother turtles travel thousands of kilometers of deep sea to the coast of Cox's Bazar to lay eggs. At this time, hundreds of mother turtles are dying after being caught in banned nets. The dead turtles that wash up on the beach at different times are buried in the sand.

A survey by a non-governmental organisation has shown that mother turtles have the opportunity to lay eggs at 34 points on the beach. A decade ago, they used to lay eggs at 52 points.

More than 290 dead turtles have washed up at different points on the beach in the three months and 10 days from January 1 to April 10. If the turtles had not died, at least 30,000 eggs would have been found.

Meanwhile, 5,000 turtle hatchlings were released into the sea. According to information provided by NCOM, volunteers collected 26,900 eggs from 12 points on the beach in the last three months. The eggs were then stored in seven hatcheries of NCOM. So far, 5,098 hatchlings have hatched out from the eggs.

The turtles have been released into the sea at all stages. The remaining eggs will also hatch in a few days.

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