Baby sea turtles found 'torched to death' on Florida beach as Hurricane Dorian threatens to decimate nesting sites
As Hurricane Dorian threatened the Florida coast on Sunday, a Twitter user found a number of baby sea turtles burned to death on one of the beaches.
Rhonda Wundke, who was walking along the beach with her husband when she made the shocking discovery on Sunday, posted the distressing photos on Twitter. "I want to report a crime. These baby turtles were found at High Tower Beach today 9/1/19. They have been set in fire. Baby turtles and over there place burned even found an egg. I'm saddened and very angry!" she wrote.
"Then there were just many more burnt dead turtles here and there. The charred wood was around them," she added. "I was with my husband and I had him take the pictures. We still can't believe it. It's worst in person." She concluded saying she had "placed these babies into the ocean to rest."
Wundke said that it looked like there might have been a beach party at the same location the day before: "There was firewood next to all the turtles," the woman told ClickOrlando.com. "They used torches and tortured them."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Conservation Commission sent officers to the beach after Wundke raised the alarm and have started an investigation. The FWC is currently seeking tips and information from the public and plans to being felony charges against those who abused the animals.
Meanwhile, other sea turtle nests were severely damaged by the storm surge as Hurricane Dorian inched closer to Florida coast. Some people reported nests that were dislodged or destroyed by the strong surf.
The Sea Turtle Preservation Society's chairperson Roger Pszonowsky said the storm was not seriously damaging to the sea turtle population on Florida beaches despite it being the heart of their nesting season.
In another incident, pictures from Spessard Holland Park showed a number of birds feeding on turtle eggs on Melbourne Beach, Florida, that had been left exposed due to high tides caused by the storm. Tulsa reporter Tony Russell brought this to the attention of the Sea Turtle Conservancy saying their fate was uncertain due to Dorian.
"Hi Tony! Thanks for the info! Unfortunately there's not much we can do except let nature take its course. There are more than 25,000 nests just on Melbourne Beach so moving them is not realistic. Sea turtles prepare by nesting 4-6 times a season," the organization replied.
Incidentally, conservation biologists have warned that the Category 5 tropical storm that battered the Bahamas over the weekend, with winds reaching up to 185 mph, might have wiped out the population of critically endangered Bahama nuthatch, one of the world's rarest birds. Scientists feared that only two of the small and brown-headed nuthatches survived in the aftermath of the natural disaster.
If you spot stranded or distressed sea turtles, please call FWC or the Sea Turtle Preservation Society's emergency hotline at 321-206-0646.