More than 3,000 rare Olive Ridley turtles have been found dead on the eastern coast of India.

Even the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary...has recorded 700 deaths in the last two months Biswajit Mohanty, environmentalist

The discovery of the dead turtles, over the past two months, has provoked protests from environmentalists across India.

They are said to have been killed by fishing trawlers despite stringent laws which make it mandatory for the boats to use special protective devices.

A survey conducted by the Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and its affiliate in the eastern state of Orissa points to the alarming rise in the death of turtles in the area.

Fishing threat

Officials say more than 100,000 turtles are estimated to have died in the last decade in Orissa - more than 16,000 in the last year alone.

The beaches of Orissa are one of the few places in the world which witness the mass nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.

Tens of thousands of turtles come ashore to lay eggs every year.

But with fishing boats not using mandatory turtle-excluder devises, thousands of them perish every year after suffocating in their nets.

Under India's wildlife protection laws, killing or trapping these turtles can attract a six-year jail term.

Biswajit Mohanty, coordinator of Operation Kachhapa, aimed at protecting the turtles and increasing public awareness, blamed the authorities for the continuing deaths of the turtles.

He said the number of dead turtles had gone up in December when compared with the previous month because, he said, mechanised trawlers were fishing in a protected five-kilometre zone along the coast.

Losing battle

The Devi and Rushikulya river mouths had become the most vulnerable points for the turtles, who have lately been shifting their nesting base south of their traditional habitat in the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, near the town of Bhadrak.

Mr Mohanty said last week he found the carcasses of more than 350 turtles at the Devi river mouth.

"Even the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, where patrolling is said to have been tightened, has recorded 700 deaths in the last two months," he said.

In the past two months, authorities have seized over 44 illegal fishing trawlers from the coast.

But it appears to be have had little impact in preventing trawlers from indulging in illegal fishing.