At least 300 sea turtles have washed up dead on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
According to an official with Mexico’s environment ministry, preliminary exams suggest that the sea turtles, olive ridley turtles, drowned.
The official said that it was possible that they had become tangled in illegal fishing nets in the high seas or in abandoned nets known as “ghost nets”.
Olive ridley turtles are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN said that their population is decreasing and that they are listed as vulnerable because they only nest in a small number of places.
The sea turtles were found washed up on Morro Ayuta beach, on Mexico’s western coast. This beach is one of the sites where olive ridley turtles come to lay their eggs.
According to turtle expert, Ernesto Albavera Padilla all of the dead animals were females.
Mexico banned the capture of sea turtles in 1990 and there are stiff penalties for anyone killing them.
Officials said Mexico’s navy would join environmental authorities in their investigation of the deaths.
Sources: BBC, Yahoo
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