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Biscayne National Park Authorities Searching For Individual Who Shot Sea Turtle With Spear Gun

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By NPT Staff - June 26th, 2019
Biscayne National Park authorities want to find who killed a sea turtle/NPS file

Biscayne National Park authorities want to find who killed a sea turtle/NPS file

Someone killed a sea turtle with a spear gun, and Biscayne National Park authorities in Florida want to find the individual.

According to the park's Facebook page, the dead turtle was found with the shaft of a spear through its head. The Miami Herald reported that the turtle was found Friday by fishermen.

"If you have any information about the poached sea turtle, please contact Biscayne National Park dispatch at 305-242-7740," read a post on the park's Facebook page.

The most commonly found sea turtle in the national park is the loggerhead sea turtle, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. However, green and hawksbill turtles also are often seen in park waters, and while leatherback turtles might be seen, they are rare there. It was not immediately known which species of turtle was killed.

The sea turtles found in the park's waters are either listed as threatened or endangered species.

Anyone who knowingly kills a listed sea turtle faces a civil fine of up to $50,000, or could be looking at a criminal charge and be fined up to $100,000 and sentenced to a year in prison, according to NOAA Fisheries. Back in 2015, a Florida man was sentenced to a month in jail simply for lifting a sea turtle up out of the water, according to NOAA.

Nine years ago, a female loggerhead turtle that came ashore to nest at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina was runover by an off-road vehicle. Authorities never apprehended the individual. However, six of the eggs taken from the female and buried in a sand nest later hatched.

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