February 7, 2007—It's nesting season for the sea turtles of Bangladesh and India, but this year the beaches where the animals lay their eggs are eerily still.

Nearly a thousand dead turtles have washed ashore along the coasts of both countries in the past few weeks, conservation workers report.

About 200 dead reptiles have appeared in the past week alone along a single stretch of beach, pictured here, in the Bangladeshi tourist town of Cox's Bazar (see Bangladesh map).

A team of scientists visiting the beach on Monday to investigate the mysterious mass deaths concluded that fishing nets were to blame.

Sea turtles swarming the shores to nest are getting entangled in poorly laid nets and drowning, the experts told Bangladesh's Financial Express.

Local fishers have denied the charge, claiming that they seldom catch sea turtles, but when they do they quickly return the animals to the water alive.

Hundreds of miles away in eastern India, however, conservationists say they too are finding evidence that nets are to blame.

"We counted 763 [dead turtles] in the last two months, all dead after getting caught in fishing nets," Biswajit Mohanty, coordinator of the conservation group Operation Kachchappa, told Reuters news service.

"They had bulging eyes and necks," he added, "which indicate they died due to a lack of oxygen after getting dragged underwater in fishing nets for hours."

—Blake de Pastino

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