This has been confirmed by Terengganu Fisheries Department director Ruzaidi Mamat.
According to a report by Bernama quoting Ruzaidi, 55 sea turtle deaths were reported last year.
He said although the number is less than the 78 deaths reported in 2019, the department believed there were many unreported cases.
"For the first five months of this year, only 20 deaths were reported to the department and we hope this number will continue to drop following less 'disruption' in Terengganu waters.
"Usually, reported turtle deaths are those which were caught in fishing nets and accidents such as being hit by boat propellers.
"There was only one recent case of brutal killing of a female turtle to steal her eggs in Pulau Kapas, Marang," he said.
He added that the COVID-19 restrictions on tourism may also have helped in the drop in turtle deaths.
A sliver of good news
On a positive note, 8,195 nests were recorded last year involving 1,024 nesting females.
"This number shows an increase compared with the 7,913 turtle nests detected involving 990 turtles in 2019.
"Throughout last year, a total of 662,097 eggs were incubated at 48 landing beaches and 443,721 baby turtles have been released into the sea.
"On average, only one in every 1,000 hatchlings will grow while the rest are eaten by predators at sea," he said.
Moreover, he said green turtle landings in the state has increased significantly compared with the beginning of the conservation programme.
"In the 1990s, turtle landings were fewer than 5,000 a year but after 20 years, it doubled with the highest record in 2016 of 10,040 landings.
"We hope conservation efforts continue to receive cooperation from the community so that these endangered animals can be protected for future generations," he said.
Guess one of the few silver linings to the pandemic is that nature gets a bit of a breathing space from human destructios. Let's hope the turtle population improves in leaps and bounds.