Ocean Sentry
Chronicle of the rescue of the dismembered leatherback sea turtle´s offspring found in Yabucoa
The leatherback turtle that was dismembered last friday by unknown people in the El Negro area off the coast of Yabucoa was in the process of “giving birth” and had just come out of the sea after a voyage of many months across the oceans of the planet, just to deposit under the sand tens of eggs from which new leatherback turtles would spring forth in Puerto Rico.
When state officials from the Natural and Environmental Resources Department of Puerto Rico (DRNA) and from the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States arrived at the scene they had to carry out an emergency procedure on the corpse of the animal to try and save it´s offspring. The leatherback turtle is an endangered species, protected since many decades ago. What happened on Friday is a federal crime and the authorities are looking for those responsable to prosecute them.
“They didn´t even give it the chance to spawn, they found her leaving and killed her right there” regretted the special agent for the Fish and Wildlife Service of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Ariel Vazquez, who is in charge of the investigation.
“All the eggs inside the body were saved. I believe that there were more than 90 from inside the body that were saved by biologists from the Department (DRNA)”, Vazquez recalled yesterday. The specialist in forensic science pointed out that the eggs had been relocated to a hidden location on the beach so as to complete the spawning process and so that the surviving turtles could return to the sea.
Nonetheless, there is a possibility that the amount of leatherback turtles that finally will survive could be less that those than would have survived if the process would have been natural. “Evidently, the natural process can´t be compared to any other method that is being used. This was an emergency procedure”, said Vazquez.
According to the reports from the Sea Grant Programme from the University of Puerto Rico and the Carribean Network of Strandings, the leatherback is the largest marine turle in existence. It can reach 2,4 metres in length and can weight up to 7,700 pounds. It can travel thousands of kilometres and is the most frequent turtle species in nesting on the beaches of Puerto Rico.
“They travel across the sea to return and spawn here. They arrive after many sacrifices in crossing the oceans and cowardly individuals come and kill an animal that is totally inofensive to humans. In the communities where these animals nest, nature and God bless them for having these animals that choose their beaches from among all the beaches in the world to come and nest there”, Vazquez pointed out.
According to the investigator, in effect, the neighbors of these communities don´t approve of crime against the leatherbacks. For this reason, the Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to receive valuable information that will lead to the clarification of the Yabucoca case. The confidential telephone number to call is (787) 749-4338.
Source: elnuevodia
