| | |  Americas & Beyond 
Taking Dead Sea Turtle is Crime
 Jim Waymer - Florida Today
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January 24, 2010
| | As of Thursday, rescuers had taken in 2,148 turtles at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge alone, including 500 Wednesday. | |
Taking a dead sea turtle for a wall hanging or souvenir could land you a $5,000 fine or five years in jail.
“If you’re caught with one of these shells, you’re facing a third-degree felony . . . for a shell,” said Lenny Salberg, spokesman with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Officers said at least four dead sea turtles were swiped in Brevard County before they could be salvaged.
Upward of 4,100 sea turtles, most of them endangered green sea turtles from Mosquito Lagoon, floated up lethargic in Florida this week because of the cold. About 300 died on the Gulf Coast and an unknown number died on Florida’s East Coast.
As of Thursday, rescuers had taken in 2,148 turtles at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge alone, including 500 Wednesday.
Duck hunting guide Aaron Pritchard talks with authorities before bringing in a cold-stressed sea turtle he and fellow guide Jeff Kraynik pulled from the Indian River near Sebastian Inlet last Monday. They were guiding a four-man party on a hunt north of Sebastian Inlet. After daylight they spotted the stressed turtles so they stopped hunting and began pulling the turtles from the water. (Jeff Kraynik For FLORIDA TODAY)
Duck hunting guide Aaron Pritchard talks with authorities before bringing in a cold-stressed sea turtle he and fellow guide Jeff Kraynik pulled from the Indian River near Sebastian Inlet last Monday. They were guiding a four-man party on a hunt north of Sebastian Inlet. After daylight they spotted the stressed turtles so they stopped hunting and began pulling the turtles from the water. (Jeff Kraynik For FLORIDA TODAY)
Salberg said officers noted the locations of the dead turtles and returned later to recover their carcasses and shells. But they were gone.
“The turtles that die that wash up, that we knew were there before, somebody’s taking them,” Salberg said. “We think they’re taking the shell . . . We believe there’s more going on.” People varnish the shells and hang them up on the wall, he said.
“Even if it’s dead, you can’t take it.”
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