Over 400 dead sea turtles have been found on India's east coast near the city of Chennai in the last two weeks . Those numbers have not been seen in more than 20 years .
The species of turtle is known as olive ridley . The animals travel thousands of kilometers for ideal places to lay their eggs along India's coast . But that process , called nesting , has become more difficult because undisturbed beaches are becoming harder to find around the world . And , mass deaths like these can be caused by fishing nets that can catch and harm the species .
Shravan Krishnan is a volunteer with Chennai -based Students Sea Turtles Conservation Network . He told The Associated Press that in a usual year , there are between 100 to 200 adult turtle deaths on the city’s coast . "This year , we've already crossed 200 dead turtles in a little more than two weeks ," he said .
Krishnan is also concerned about the low number of turtles nesting on shore . He and other conservationists walk along the city's beaches at night to collect and move turtle nests . They do so to prevent the eggs from being eaten by dogs or damaged by people walking along the coast . "We have found only four nests so far , which is also really worrying ," Krishnan said .
Highest turtle deaths in the last twenty years
Environmentalists and forest department officials have been seeing at least ten dead turtles every day for the past few days , sometimes many more . That is the highest number officials have seen since 2014 . Experts say the deaths are most likely caused by large fishing nets that are pulled along the ocean floor .
Manish Meena is in charge of the city's wildlife . He said groups have been actively trying to inform people involved in fishing to release turtles that might get caught in nets . They have also asked the coast guard to watch for illegal fishing activity .
Fishing boats using giant nets that catch everything on the ocean floor are barred by a local government order from operating within five nautical miles of the coastline during the turtle nesting season . The law also requires the use of devices that can help turtles escape nets .
Shantanu Kalambi is an ocean animal specialist with the conservation organization ReefWatch . He said that when the turtles get caught in nets , they are unable to come up to the surface for air . And environmentalists say the crews of fishing boats do not always use the devices to help turtles escape , since they reduce how many fish they can catch .
A number of threats
Olive ridley turtles are considered an endangered species . Just like most sea turtles , their eggs need two months to hatch . This places them at higher risk because of coastal land activity , warmer temperatures and pollution from light .
Farther up India’s east coast , over 500 ,000 turtles nest every year . But only one in about 1 ,000 turtle babies that hatch survives to adulthood .
Experts say the turtles are important to the balance of the ocean ecosystem .
"As a species , they are millions of years old and they play an essential role in the food chain ," Kalambi said .
I’m Jill Robbins .
Sibi Arasu reported this story for the Associated Press . Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English .
species -n. biology. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants
net – n. a device that is used for catching or holding things or for keeping things out of a space and that is made of pieces of string, rope, wire, etc., woven together with spaces in between
conservation – n. the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources
nautical mile – n. a unit of distance equal to 1,852 meters that is used for sea and air travel
hatch – v. of a bird, insect, fish. to come out of an egg : to be born by coming out of an egg
ecosystem – n. everything that exists in a particular environment
essential – adj. necessary
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