Endangered sea turtles killed by boats off Massachusetts

Sad news from the East Coast: At least four large and endangered sea turtles have been killed off Massachusetts as a likely result of boat strikes during the past three weeks.

Three were loggerheads and one was a leatherback. All four turtles washed ashore with broken flippers and severe lacerations, according to a story in the Boston Globe.

Robert Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, said the turtles appeared to have been healthy before being struck.

Loggerheads can weigh 300 pounds but leatherbacks, which feed primarily on jellyfish, are the world's largest sea turtle and can weigh 1,200 pounds. All sea turtles are vulnerable to boat strikes.

The Globe reports that this news comes only days after jellyfish had stung as many as 150 beachgoers off New Hampshire.

Prescott said sea turtles play a vital role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem, adding: "With every dead leatherback, we're depleting jellyfish-eaters throughout the world's oceans."

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of healthy leatherback sea turtle release courtesy of Connie Merigo / New England Aquarium

Comments

[Endangered sea turtles]

This is really sad. There must be some restricted area in the sea where the boats should not be allowed to sail where these turtles live.

[Fox Keri]

I believe I spotted that turtle a week before its demise in Woods Hole....could have been another individual