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Journalism of Courage
Marine species have been struggling with pollution and several videos of animals getting entangled in plastic waste or fishing nets have been doing rounds on social media.
In one such video, a sea turtle was seen trapped in a fishing net in the high seas and struggling to get out. The Olive Ridley turtle was rescued from the net and released into the sea by a team of Chennai Customs Department on January 30 this year.
Watch the video:
The video shared by Supriya Sahu, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, shows the turtle struggling amid sea waves. Using a stick, someone pulls the turtle onto the patrolling boat. Later, a man cuts the fishing net entangling the turtle and it is released into the sea.
Sahu, the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment Climate Change and Forests in Tamil Nadu, captioned the clip, “Thank you Chennai Customs. This is so heartwarming.”
Praises poured in for the Customs team in the comments section.
Olive Ridley turtles are listed under the Endangered Species Act. As per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Natural Resources Red List, the species’ global population size has reduced by 30 to 50 per cent. Bycatch in fishing gear and overexploitation for turtle meat and eggs were cited as the reasons for the population decline by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
According to IUCN, plastic constitutes 80 per cent of marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. At least, 14 million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean every year. Marine species ingest or get entangled by plastic debris leading to serious injuries and death. Marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fishes and turtles suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and internal injuries.
