Loggerhead Turtles

The number of dead sea turtles reported on ocean beaches between Hatteras Village and Oregon Inlet soared Monday to 220, and its still a mystery what killed the usually hardy creatures,. The last count on Friday May 5th, 2000 found 93 turtles.  The remains of the 216 loggerheads and four Kemp's ridleys, an endangered species, have been marked with bright paint to indicate they've been counted.  fishing line, some from gill nets, was found entangled around four of the bodies, most of which are badly decomposed.  The turtles began coming on shore Wednesday morning in the third major stranding of the sea creatures on the Outer Banks since fall 1999.

In three days in mid April, 71 turtles were found dead on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands.  No hooks were detected, and no fishing gear was found on the carcasses, and no cause has yet been determined. Late last fall, 20 loggerheads and 38 Kemp's Ridleys were found in and around Ocracoke Inlet. Many of those animals were believed to have drowned in gill nets set by flounder fishermen., fisheries officials said.
David Bernhart, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said Monday that the agency is continuing its investigations into the cause of the recent record breaking member of stranding.

Bernhart said the agency has looked at which fisheries were active when the turtles were killed.  But he said no one fishery has been pinpointed, and penalizing fishermen may not be possible or worthwhile.  Fishermen can legally catch loggerheads if they
're an incidental catch, and there is no residential catch, and there is no requirement for them to report if they release turtles, dead or alive, from their nets, Bernhart said.

"If they're combining illegal fishing with catching sea turtles, then we'd go after them'" Bernhart said. "But I think our primary forces is to try to look forward a little bit to see what we can do to protect the sea turtles."

A monkfish fishery, which uses large mesh gill nets, was operating in offshore waters until April 26, which is later than it is usually active.  A bluefish fishery ws also being worked in the area.  Bernhart said his agency will examine gear, probably today, found on the turtles to see if it can be connected to a particular fishing activity.

If the turtles were caught in gill nets, large, submerged basket like nets of mono filament line the could drown within 45 minutes or less.  Their bodies would

Written by, Catherine Kozak for The Virginian Pilot
Drew C. Wilson/The Virginian Pilot Took the above Picture.