Turtle death toll reaches 10,000-mark

More than 10,000 turtles from an endangered species have been found dead along a coastal stretch in eastern India.

Local environmental groups who carried out the survey on the Olive Ridley turtles said the deaths are caused by fishing nets in the bay.

The government insists it is enforcing the law forcing trawlers to be equipped with devices that allow turtles to escape from fishing nets.

But Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of the Wildlife Society of Orissa, blamed the turtle deaths on government inaction.

Although the law prohibits fishing within 6 miles of the Orissa coast during turtle nesting season, enforcement is lax.

Thousands of the creatures are swimming toward the shore in the eastern state of Orissa to lay eggs before the winter.

"Turtle death toll is likely to go up further as the sea animals continue to swim ashore for nesting," said Biswajit Mohanty.

Last year, nearly 20,000 of the estimated 700,000 turtles that came to nest were killed by the fishing nets of mechanised trawlers. Most deaths occur along a 300-mile stretch of the coast.

"Seizure of trawlers had been going on since December," said AP Tripathy, the state's chief wildlife warden. He said more than 100 boats had been seized.