ENDANGERED
SPECIES LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE An endangered species Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), apparently killed by entanglement in a commercial fishing buoy line, washed onto the beach at 47th Street in Ocean City, Maryland on Sunday, September 5, 2004. The Ocean City Public Works Department used a backhoe to remove the 6-foot long turtle as beachgoers celebrated Labor Day weekend. A team from the National Aquarium in Baltimore will investigate the death. The reason I set up this web-site for a dead Leatherback Sea turtle is because the turtle was killed by a commercial fisherman's buoy line and it could have been prevented. After reading that this giant turtle was an endangered species and that it was probably 30-50 years old or older, I got really upset. Also, before the Town of Ocean City Public Works department arrived to remove the turtle, a person that has worked in the commercial fishing industry cut the buoy line off of the turtle's neck and removed the evidence. Hopefully, these images can inspire someone to find a solution to prevent the unnecessary death of sea turtles, whales and other sea creatures that get entangled in human made devices. - Art Baltrotsky, TumblingMonkeys.com Photos by Art Baltrotsky, 410-641-3329, art@tumblingmonkeys.com, Copyright Art Baltrotsky, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
