San Jose: An investigation was launched Tuesday to determine the cause of death of about 280 sea turtles in the Gulf of Dulce, on the southern Pacific coast, a situation that was denounced by environmentalists, Costa Rican authorities said.
"The initial aim is to collect information and verify if it was ... caused by human action," the Costa Rican Environment Ministry said.
The alert over the finding of the dead turtles was given by the environmental organization Widecast, which had received a report from residents of the Osa peninsula.
The reports of the environmentalists say that along with the turtles, other sea creatures had turned up dead along the coast, including sailfish and marlin.
Although authorities have not yet been able to determine the turles' cause of death, some hypotheses point to fishing in the area using lines that may be several km long.
IANS
First Published: Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 10:54