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| A Sri Lankan fishing boat operates against the backdrop of the MV X-Press Pearl, which lies partially submerged in shallow seas off Colombo. (Photo by= AFP/Ishara S Kodikara) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] COLOMBO: More dead turtles washed up on Sri Lankan beaches on Friday (Jun 18), underscoring the environmental blight caused by a container ship fire off the country's coast, AFP reported.
The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl was carrying hundreds of tonnes of chemicals and plastics when it caught fire last month, before burning for two weeks. Since Jun 2 its wreckage has been partially submerged off the capital Colombo. Wildlife officials said the carcass of an olive ridley turtle - a species listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature - was found at the tourist resort area of Bentara, 80km south of Colombo.
Another was seen on a beach in Induruwa, just south of Bentara, raising to 15 the number found in the southern tourist resort belt, an official said. "We see a clear link with the ship and the turtle deaths," the senior wildlife official on the island's south told AFP, declining to be named. He said the disaster struck during the height of the turtles' mating season. It is not unusual for some turtles to suffocate and die during the mating season, but deaths this year were "10 to 20 times more compared to last year", he said.
