Turtles found trapped in fishing net

NAIYANG: One sea turtle was found dead this morning on Naiyang Beach, along with two others badly injured and barely alive after having become tangled in a nylon fishing net. Suthon Klapsong, a security guard from the Phuket branch of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd, found two of the turtles early this morning when he spotted a large black object in the water. “At first I didn’t know what it was – I thought maybe it was a dead person – so I pulled it onto the sand,” K Suthon said. “I found two turtles wrapped in fishing net. One was dead and the other was almost dead, with its legs badly cut by the net.” The live animal was found to be a female olive Ridley turtle weighing about 35 kilos. One hind leg was almost severed, and the front limbs were also badly lacerated. “I think they had been in the net for a long time,” Wirat Puthsri, a scientist from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), told the Gazette. “The dead one probably starved to death; it was very thin. “The net was most likely thrown away by fishermen because it was torn. It’s very bad for marine life,” he added. The third animal, a rare hawksbill turtle weighing about six kilos, was found 100 meters away by staff of the Sirinath National Park. It, too, was tangled in fishing net and its right foreleg was badly cut. Both the injured turtles were taken to the PMBC for treatment.