Friday, July 18, 2025

Some 300 turtles die trapped in fishing nets off Oaxaca coast

Around 300 turtles were found dead off the coast of Oaxaca today after they became trapped in fishing nets, state authorities reported.

Oaxaca Civil Protection services said that the olive ridley sea turtles were located in the Pacific Ocean three miles from Barra de Colotepec, a beach community near Puerto Escondido.

After receiving an anonymous tip, authorities and volunteers launched an operation to free the entangled reptiles from what are believed to be nets belonging to a tuna vessel, but all of the turtles had died by the time they arrived.

Judging by their state of decomposition, it is probable that the turtles had been dead for at least eight days.

Fisherman Antonio Mendoza ruled out any possibility that the net that trapped the turtles belonged to a local, and at least one media report said it might have belonged to a foreign fishing vessel.

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (Profepa) said via Twitter that it had received a report of the turtles’ deaths and was initiating an investigation to identify those responsible.

The olive ridley turtle, known in Mexico as tortuga golfina, arrive in their thousands on Mexican Pacific coast beaches every year to lay eggs.

Last week, federal authorities arrested five men after a routine inspection on the Huatulco-Salina Cruz highway revealed they were carrying 30,000 olive ridley sea turtle eggs.

Source: NVI Noticias (sp), Excelsiór (sp), El Universal (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Sheinbaum displays a Finabien bank card

Mexicans in US can avoid remittance tax with government Finabien cards, Sheinbaum says

0
The government is also updating consular services for Mexicans in the U.S., eliminating filing fees and allowing online appointment scheduling.
A man stands by an open suitcase in an airport revision area

Foreign national caught with over a million pesos of ketamine in Cancún airport

0
Officials confiscated 2 kilograms of ketamine, a controlled substance in Mexico.
two people walkin gby a for rent sign

Can rent control stop gentrification? Mexico City officials plan to find out

9
Political leaders in the nation's capital have reached into their anti-gentrification toolkit and come up with an approach that goes straight to the heart of the problem.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity