For threatened sea turtles, one more peril: poachers

From an article by Kate Spinner in the Sarasota (Florida) Herald Tribune:

Poachers robbed the eggs from four loggerhead sea turtle nests near Venice this week, a crime that rarely strikes Florida's west coast but is rampant in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

On a Venice beach, a volunteer in Mote Marine Labratory's Sea Turtle Patrol examines a turtle nest that had been robbed of its eggs on June 6. Poachers have taken eggs from four loggerhead sea turtle nests on Sarasota County beaches in the past week.

Roughly 300 to 500 eggs may have been removed from the nests on Venice Beach and Casey Key. Volunteers from Mote Marine Laboratory who patrol the beach daily to mark new sea turtle nests spotted the poached clutches and alerted state wildlife officials, as well as Venice police and the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Officials would not say whether they had any leads in the case or whether they suspected more than one person, nor would they release details about their investigation.

But scientists suspect an experienced poacher. The number of nests raided suggests someone aiming to make a quick buck on the black market, said an official experienced with poachers on the east coast.

Whoever robbed the Sarasota County nests knew what he or she was doing, said Keri Nelson, a county environmental specialist, and Haley Rutger, spokeswoman for Mote Marine Laboratory.

There is only a short window in which the eggs are edible, which is why staked nests are rarely targeted.