Olive ridley sea turtle found dead on Phuket beach

PHUKET: Local residents collecting shells on Mai Khao Beach discovered the remains of a female olive ridley turtle washed ashore yesterday.

“We believe the turtle died a few days before the local villager found its remains,” said Jittipong Pimarnprom of the Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor).

Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers took the remains of the turtle, about 53cm long and weighing 18kg, to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) at Cape Panwa to investigate the cause of the animal’s death.

The turtle was not entangled in a fishing net and showed no deep cuts usually attributed to propeller blades.

Mai Khao is long known as a nesting site of olive ridley turtles inhabiting the Andaman Sea.

“An olive ridley was found dead on Sai Kaew Beach, at the northern end of Mai Khao Beach, on July 8,” Mr Jittipong noted (story here).

— Woranut Pechdee