Record 350 turtles wash ashore dead in 2025, experts alarmed

WITH bulging eyes and swollen necks, carcasses of endangered Olive Ridley turtle have been floating in the open sea, off Chennai. More than 350 dead turtles have beached up ashore between Marina and Kovalam in just 15 days, marking a record number of deaths in the last two decades, said sources.

- SV KRISHNA CHAITANYA @Chennai

Neither the forest department nor the fisheries or coast guard authorities have definite answers on the cause of these deaths. Moreover, the forest staffers are allegedly burying the carcasses without conducting postmortem, sources said. The Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTN), which works from Marina to Neelankarai, has recorded 161 turtle deaths as of January 13. From Neelankarai to Kovalam, Tree Foundation has reported close to 200 turtle deaths. The number keeps increasing in the multiples of 10 daily, sources said.

Rajiv Rai, a resident of Injambakkam, has recorded 37 turtle deaths in the past few days in his area alone. On Wednesday, he reported the death of eight turtles in a short stretch of 300 metres at Injambakkam.