Editor's note: This updates with the carcass of a juvenile green sea turtle having been recovered.

A man seen shooting at a sea turtle with a speargun at Cape Hatteras National Seashore could be fined as much as $25,000 for killing the turtle, which was recovered Friday.

Seashore visitors watched Wednesday as the man, whose identity has not been released, shot at the turtle. The turtle was "struck in the back by the spear and was injured but swam away," Seashore spokeswoman Cyndy Holda said earlier Friday. Those who witnessed, and even photographed, the incident couldn't say whether the spear bounced off the turtle, went through its body, or was embedded in the turtle, she said during a phone call.

However, later Friday the carcass of a juvenile green sea turtle, a threatened species, was recovered in the Frisco Pier area.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association "as the lead agency, has identified the suspect," a seashore release said. That agency will continue the investigation and handle any prosecution deemed necessary.

Five species of sea turtles can be found on Cape Hatteras beaches; loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Kemp’s Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), Green (Cehlonia mydas), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbriacata). They are all either threatened or endangered species that are afforded protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Individuals found guilty of harming or killing an endangered species can be fined up to $50,000 and sent to prison for a year. Crimes involving threatened species have fines of up to $25,000 along with a six-month prison sentence.