MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife officials are trying to determine how a sea turtle ended up dead on a Florida beach.
Miami-Dade County Sea Turtle Conservation Program surveyors told the Miami Herald that the 300-pound female loggerhead sea turtle was found Monday morning. It appeared that she had been nesting on Miami Beach earlier that morning or the previous night.
Program manager Teal Kawana says they’re not sure what killed the otherwise healthy turtle. The animal’s body was found at the water line in front of a freshly laid nest. That nest and another nearby showed signs of being disturbed by ATV tracks and some boot prints.
Florida law forbids anyone from interfering with marine turtles, nests or eggs without prior permission from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for research or conservation. The Federal Endangered Species act protects marine turtles, including loggerheads, which are listed as “threatened.”
FWC took the turtle’s carcass for a necropsy.
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