Tuesday, September 16, 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.
Culiacan

Threats of violence cancel ‘Grito’ celebrations in Sinaloa and Michoacán 

1
Mexico City's Iztapalapa borough will also forego celebrations out of respect for the deceased and injured in last week's gas explosion.
Jarritos truck sticks out from a sinkhole on a street in Mexico City

Sinkhole swallows Jarritos delivery truck in Mexico City

0
At least eight families living near the sinkhole have been asked to leave the immediate vicinity while authorities seek to identify the cause of the 8-meter deep crater.
crash in Yucatán

Highway accident west of Mérida kills 16, injures 2

0
A freight truck carrying beer, a passenger transport van and a private vehicle were involved in the crash on the Mérida–Campeche federal highway near the town of Kopomá, Yucatán.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity