Endangered sea turtles found stabbed off Japan island: Here's what happened, who did it

At least 30 to 50 green sea turtles were found dead or almost dying near Kumejima, a remote Japanese island in southern Okinawa prefecture. A few locals of Kumejima made the discovery last Thursday, following a low tide that revealed the turtles’ bodies.

The police have launched an investigation to look into the case, according to a CNN report. Japan’s national daily The Mainichi reported that some of the sea turtles were struggling to move while others had already died. The turtles had stab wounds on their necks that were supposedly caused by a blade.

As soon as the turtles were discovered, marine biologists and other workers from sea turtle museum had rushed to the scene only to find them motionless,  BBC reported.

Yoshi Tsukakoshi, a spokesman at the Kumejima sea turtle museum said that sea turtles often get entangled in the nets that are laid by local fishermen. He added that they can also be considered a “nuisance” by fishermen because they rip their fishing nets. “Some fishers think the turtles eat all the seagrass before it grows and that prevents the fish from spawning in the area,” he said.

Who is responsible for the deaths?

The green sea turtles are inhabitants of the kelp forests in Kumejima—located in one of the tiny islands that lies about 2,000km south of Japanese mainland. The area where they were found is covered with seagrass, which the turtles consume.

According to AFP, a frustrated fisherman has confessed that he stabbed the sea turtles to death after they were entangled in his fishing nets. The unnamed fisherman said that he successfully released many of the sea turtles who were tangled-up in his net. But after he could not release the others, he began stabbing them.

The fisherman said, "I disentangled some of the [turtles] and released them into the sea, but I couldn't free [the] heavy ones so I stabbed them to get rid of them," as per The Mainichi.

According to BBC, pictures released by the museum showed that the turtles were found floating in shallow water. Officials also found several stab wounds at the base of their necks while some were also had wounds on their flippers.

Yuji Tabata, the head of the local fishermen's cooperative told AFP that the fisherman in question has never seen so many turtles on his nets and that “he regrets” stabbing them.

‘An extremely grisly scene’

Employees at the sea turtle museum have expressed their sorrow over the deaths of the turtles.

The Facebook page of the Kumejima sea turtle museum read, “As a sea turtle community which has been transmitting the conservation of the marine environment and the importance of living creatures through sea turtle conservation activities since day-to-day, this time’s situation is extremely painful and disappointing. We are so sorry for causing you all the trouble.”

One of the museum employees was quoted in a report by Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese saying, “Many of the turtles appeared dead. I have never seen anything like this before. It is extremely difficult to process this.”

Yoshi Tsukakoshi told AFP that “sea turtles are gentle creatures and they move away when humans approach them. I could not believe it could happen in this day and age.” He added that it was an “extremely grisly scene”.

What are green sea turtles?

According to The National Wildlife Federation, what sets green sea turtles apart from the rest of the turtles are their top shells and the fact that they have a single pair of prefrontal scales rather than two pairs that are normally found in other sea turtles.

The shell covers most of the reptile’s body except for its flippers and head. Despite the name, a green sea turtle’s shell is not always green.

They are commonly found in subtropical and tropical oceans across the world. Their populations have been found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Why are they endangered?

All species of turtles are considered endangered and are on the list of International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list. According to World Wide Fund for Nature, they are protected and conserved worldwide. Green sea turtles are no different.

Green sea turtle population has witnessed a 90 per cent decrease over the past half century, according to The National Wildlife Federation. Climate change, habitat loss, diseases like fibropapilloma and pollution near beaches have been attributed as a threat to these turtles.

They are also listed as an endangered species by the Japanese authorities.

With inputs from agencies

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