Dear Colleagues,

For your interest, a leatherback turtle was reported in 2001 in an estuary
called "Panadura estuary" 26kms south of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The adult
turtle visited 2km inside the estuary from the river mouth. Some fishermen
followed the turtle to catch it for slaughter but some other villagers have
informed the NAVY officials and then they have chased the turtle back to
the sea. Turtle was reported confused and disoriented and swam all the
directions (even before the boat with fishermen try to catch it) of the
estuary. We believe that this turtle entered the estuary by accident. The
water was shallow and it's not an ideal foraging ground for leatherbacks
(or any other turtles).


Thushan

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Thushan Kapurusinghe
Project Leader and Commiitee Chairman,
Turtle Conservation Project (TCP), Sri Lanka.
389, Godagama, Kosgoda, Sri Lanka.
Tel: 0094 38 31919, 0094 91 2264765, 0094 777 810509
Fax: 0094 38 31919
E-mail: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
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