India, Feb. 19 -- Soumya Ranjan Biswal alleges 1,600 have died so far; wildlife official refutes claim, says numbers exaggerated

Around 1,600 Olive Ridley sea turtle carcasses were washed ashore recently on the coastline along the Puri district in Odisha. Many dead turtles bore injuries, pointing to the possibility that they were trapped either in a trawl or gill net, claimed a conservation activist.

The carcasses were found on a 30-kilometre stretch of beach from the Jatadhari river mouth in Jagatsinghpur district to the Devi river mouth in Puri district under Puri Wildlife Division, said Soumya Ranjan Biswal, an environmentalist and the convener of Odisha Paryavaran Sanrakshan Abhiyan Trust.

"We conducted a survey from February 1, 20...