Nation : ECOLOGY : Ill Turtles Hit Colombia Beaches

As many as 680 endangered turtles have washed ashore choking, comatose or dead on the Pacific coast of Colombia, mystifying biologists and raising fears that more deaths will follow.

“These turtles washed up with no evidence of having been assaulted in any way--no wounds, no signs of trauma,” said Roderic Mast, director of species conservation for Conservation International.

If the turtles died of natural causes, the conditions that killed them could threaten other endangered turtles in the Pacific, Mast said Wednesday. Unconfirmed sightings suggest that might be happening.

“There are reports of turtle die-offs for no apparent reason in other parts of the Pacific,” he said.

Ninety-eight percent of the dead turtles found on Colombian shores were Pacific green turtles--the second most endangered sea turtle in the world, after the Kemp’s ridley turtle.