Chennai:
Indian Coastguard now has come to the rescue of Olive Ridley turtles whose high motality rate along the coast of Chennai has been a cause of concern for conservationists.
Two Coast guard ships --- ICGS Vishwast and ICGS Abheek -- have been instrumental in saving the sea turtles which were found entangled in fishing nets.
It was learnt that during a routine patrol by ICGS Vishwast off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, a floating net was sighted. When officials inspected, it was found that four Olive Ridley turtles were entangled in a fishing net.
The ship's crew immediately swung into action by lowering their boat and the Coast Guard divers quickly cut the nylon wires of the net without inflicting any harm to the turtles.
In a separate incident, ICGS Abheek while on patrol off Palk Bay rescued stranded turtles and released them into sea.
The mortality of sea turtles have been an issue which is bothering sea turtle conservationists. Many say that the main reason for such high sea turtle mortality is that the turtles get caught in the trawl fishing nets of mechanized boats, gill nets or ray fishing nets. Because turtles are air breathing reptiles they need to come to the surface of the sea every 40 to 45 minutes to breathe air. Trapped in the fishing net they cannot surface and so they drown.
Indian Coastguard now has come to the rescue of Olive Ridley turtles whose high motality rate along the coast of Chennai has been a cause of concern for conservationists.
Two Coast guard ships --- ICGS Vishwast and ICGS Abheek -- have been instrumental in saving the sea turtles which were found entangled in fishing nets.
It was learnt that during a routine patrol by ICGS Vishwast off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, a floating net was sighted. When officials inspected, it was found that four Olive Ridley turtles were entangled in a fishing net.
The ship's crew immediately swung into action by lowering their boat and the Coast Guard divers quickly cut the nylon wires of the net without inflicting any harm to the turtles.
In a separate incident, ICGS Abheek while on patrol off Palk Bay rescued stranded turtles and released them into sea.
The mortality of sea turtles have been an issue which is bothering sea turtle conservationists. Many say that the main reason for such high sea turtle mortality is that the turtles get caught in the trawl fishing nets of mechanized boats, gill nets or ray fishing nets. Because turtles are air breathing reptiles they need to come to the surface of the sea every 40 to 45 minutes to breathe air. Trapped in the fishing net they cannot surface and so they drown.
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