Sad News

We received a call from FWC yesterday that the police department in Hobe Sound had recovered a dead leatherback. She had been hit by a boat and had severe prop wounds over her carapace and front flipper. Our stranding team went to document the turtle and discovered that it was one of our tagged turtles, Nanelle. Nanelle was tagged by Rebeccah and I on April 19th on the beach in front of Seminole Golf Course. She was seen only once and had either just nested or was just returning to the beach to nest when she was found yesterday. There were eggs exposed in one of the prop wounds. Nanelle is the third turtle that we've tagged that has been encountered in a non-nesting event this year. As I previously mentioned, Piper was encountered in the intracoastal after being hit by a boat but she was released alive. Annie was captured in a trawl net from a dredging project at the Port Canaveral. Annie was released unharmed. A sad reminder of the dangers that boats pose to leatherbacks and all turtles.