Bangladesh probes spate of turtle deaths

Bangladeshi scientists are probing the deaths of more than 80 turtles found washed up on the beach over the past week, a government marine research institute said Thursday.

Olive ridley sea turtles are a relatively small and abundant species that are found in tropical waters over the world and can live for up to 50 years in the wild. But their numbers are declining and they have periodically been victim to mass die-off events, including earlier this month in nearby southern India.

 More than 80 percent of the turtles discovered along the coast were females who were coming ashore to lay eggs.