Mumbai: Activists fish for truth about 2 turtle deaths at aquarium

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Something's fishy about the sudden death of two of the three turtles at Taraporewala aquarium within the same week, and the city's animal activists won't rest until they find out what exactly went wrong.

A green sea turtle was the first to die on May 24, followed by the death of a hawksbill turtle just days later, on May 31. The last one left, also a green sea turtle, was fast deteriorating when it was rushed to the Injured sea turtle and wildlife treatment Centre at Dahanu.

Sunish Subramanian Kunju, honarary wildlife warden of Mumbai city and the founder of the NGO PAWS, has written to aquarium curator Ajinkya Patil, requesting an appointment to inspect the facility. Sunish said, "I have written to the curator to arrange a visit to the aquarium, along with a team of marine life specialists, to check the internal functioning, upkeep and facilities of Taraporewala Aquarium. We want to see where they have housed various marine and freshwater fish."

The last surviving turtle is currently under treatment under the supervision of Dr Dinesh Vinherkar, who is a consultant associated with the Dahanu rescue centre and also a well known expert on turtles. "The condition of the green sea turtle is stable, and we are taking the best care of it," he said.

The Charni Road attraction is India's oldest aquarium, and one of the city's main sights. Sunish said he wanted to help make the aquarium a better place for fish and other species kept there, as well as make it a place where tourists can be educated about marine life.

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