DENPASAR – A turtle carcass was found in Gilimanuk Waters, Jembrana Regency, Bali, on Friday (12/2). The discovery has increased the total number of turtle found dead on the coast if Bali, which was recorded 11 turtle from January 22 to February 12, 2021.
“There are 12 turtles in total, 3 green sea turtles and 9 olive ridley sea turtle,” Permana Yudiarso, Head of the Denpasar Coastal and Marine Resources Management Agency (BPSPL) told Kanal Bali on Friday (12/2).
He also mentioned that from the results of the necropsy on February 2, a sea turtle at Kedonganan beach died allegedly because swallowed a fishing hook. Then, on February 6, a turtle died from ingesting plastic waste in its mouth.
Meanwhile, necropsy of remaining 10 dead turtles had not been carried out. Therefore, the cause of death hasn’t been founded. “What we anticipate is plastic and garbage. The turtles allegedly eaten a lot of garbage yesterday. Moreover, the hook means that there is a trace of fishing line floating in the sea and being eaten by the turtle,” Permana explained.
Of the 12 sea turtles found dead, most of them are located in Badung Regency, Bali. This is because the ocean currents are currently heading for Kedonganan, Kuta, Canggu. “Possibly from the south of Java, the Bali Strait and all the turtles here,” he said.
He also said that the dead and stranded turtles could be due to the influence of extreme weather and eventually a lot of garbage floats into the sea so that the turtles are mistaken for food. “With this large amount of rubbish, we are worried that the remaining 10 might be in our suspicion that there is rubbish in his digestion,” Permana stated.
In addition, some turtles were found with broken shells or chipped skin on their back carapace and allegedly peeled off due to hard objects or being hit by ships. “Their habitat this month is very disturbed by plastic waste,” said Permana. (Kanalbali / KAD)
