Beaches should be cleared fast without leaving any tiny hazardous chemical substances, since turtles have now started coming to the beach to lay eggs and also to roam freely, the Turtle conservation Project (TCP) said.
According to TCP, one the largest turtle conservation institute in Sri Lanka, over 120 carcasses of rare turtle species have already been washed to the beaches in Kosgoda, Bambalapitiya, Dehiwala, Moratuwa, Bentota, Induruwa, Chilaw, Moragolla in Aluthgama, Tangalle, Bundala and a few other places in the Western and the Southern coastal areas.
TCP Chairman Thushan Kapurusinghe said that five species of rare turtles are living in the Indian Ocean and only three rare species have been washed ashore dead during the past few weeks. He said that his institution has been protecting and conserving turtles and turtle eggs for the past 35 years in the Southern and Western coast.
“Our main objective is to protect turtles that are coming to the beach at night and also to protect their eggs from wild animals roaming in the beach and also from the people who come to collect them for personal use,” he said.
Kapurusinghe said that beach cleaning and collecting more garbage that are still in the ocean after the ship disaster is the only solution to protect turtles and other species such as whales and dolphins.
He said that authorities should also prohibit using illegal fishing nets such as bottom towing nets as such fishing nets entangle with turtles and other marine life. He said that like in some foreign countries, especially the countries where turtles, whales and dolphins are protected, a separate institution has been set up to protect them.
“Our country needs the service of veterinary surgeons and also equipment in this regard, since dolphins and whales are injured very often in the sea.
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