By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - At least six whales have died since July as a result of digging under the sea to create a shipping route off India's southern coast, proving that the controversial plan hurts the environment, activists said. The digging or dredging is part of the $560-million Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project which will carve a channel in the narrow strip of sea between southeastern India and western Sri Lanka, reducing distances and cutting costs. But environmentalists, who have opposed the project claiming it will badly affect marine life, said the death of the whales proved their concerns were valid. "Since July, at least six whales have died after getting stranded on beaches or have been washed ashore already dead," said Ossie Fernandez of Coastal Action Network, an alliance of over 45 social and environmental groups. "But local fishermen have seen more dead whales so it could be as high as 10," he said, adding that most of the dead whales were found off the coast of Rameswaram -- a southeastern Hindu holy town in Tamil Nadu state. Activists said the whales' navigation sensors get affected by the loud noise of the dredging and the powerful sound waves emitted by sonar machines used to conduct marine surveys. As a result, the marine mammals lose their sense of direction and get stranded in the shallow waters near Rameswaram. "It is shocking that up to 10 whales have died in the last six months, compared to around an average of one or two whale deaths that we normally see in a year," said Fernandez. "NO EVIDENCE" According to the state-run Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and marine life wardens, there have been around 43 whale deaths in the area over the last one century. But government experts said the recent deaths were not connected to the dredging, taking place about 125 km (80 miles) northeast of Rameswaram. "Whale stranding is a periodic phenomenon and we cannot say it has increased after the dredging," said G. Gopakumar, a CMFRI marine biologist based in Mandapam town near Rameswaram. "There is no evidence to link the death of the whales to the Sethusamudram dredging." The channel -- 12 metres (40 ft) deep, 300 metres (985 ft) wide and almost 90 km (55 miles) long -- will cut through a chain of small islands known as Adam's Bridge and link the Palk Bay with the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka. When the project is finished, ships sailing between India's western and eastern coasts will no longer have to go around the south of Sri Lanka, and are expected to save up to 400 nautical miles (730 km) and 36 hours of sailing time. But environmentalists say the dredging will also mean dumping sediment in deeper water further out to sea. This and increased freight traffic could harm marine life and threaten the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen in both countries. Some 3,600 species live in a marine park in the Gulf of Mannar, including about 400 species -- such as the sea cow or dugong, and three species of sea turtles -- which are endangered. (Additional reporting by S. Bhagwan Singh in Chennai)
