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VAJRAPUKOTTURU (SRIKAKULAM), India — About 200 carcasses of Olive Ridley turtles entangled in a fishing net were washed ashore at Kotttapet coast in the mandal, 100 km from Srikakulam, on Saturday.
Along with the carcasses, turtle eggs were also found trapped in the fishing net. Sources said the animals might have been making their way to the shore for nesting when they got caught in the net.
This is the first time that such a large number of dead Olive Ridley turtles were washed ashore in the entire coastal region of the state.
The turtles face threat from trawlers and nets in the eastern shore of the country, from Orissa to the Andhra coast. "I have never seen so many turtles trapped in one go," said 70-year-old fisherman Chodipalli Nookaraju.
Each turtle weighed about 10 to 15 kilos. Local fisherfolk blamed the big trawlers of Visakhapatnam fishing harbour for the incident.
The turtles travel thousands of kilometres from the deep sea to the coastline of the Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam every year to lay eggs.
They mate in the deep sea waters after which the females journey ashore for the mass nesting.
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