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Photo courtesy of Steve Ahern
On Memorial Day morning, more than 80 turtles were found dead on the Sea Isle City, washed ashore after being caught in a single crab trap.
“I’ve been here since 1968, and it’s the first time I’ve seen something like that,” said Sea Isle City Beach Patrol Chief Renny Steele.
News of the mass turtle death was first reported on Thursday by Sea Isle News.
The carnage was found on the beach near 11th Street by an unidentified woman, according to Steele. The woman alerted beach patrol to the dead turtles, all diamondback terrapins.
The beach patrol reached out to residents Steve Ahern and Susan Ahern for assistance. Steele said the couple has “made it their goal in life to save the turtles.”
“I have to say this is one of the largest, if not the largest, that we’ve ever come across,” Steve Ahern said. “So it was a pretty rough morning to see all of that.”
The turtles were out of the trap when found, Steele said, with 68 in one cluster and the rest scattered nearby. Steve Ahern said they found no surviving turtles.
Since the turtles had not begun decomposing on the beach, its most likely that they drowned recently, Steve Ahern said. The trap that snagged them was large, and both Steele and Ahern said it looks like a commercial crab trap rather than a smaller recreational device.
Courtesy of nj.com
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