Dead sea turtle washes ashore

A dead female green sea turtle was collected and disposed of by Division of Fish and Wildlife’s enforcement officers.

DFW enforcement staff inspected the dead animal and determined that no foul play was involved in its death.

A member of the community contacted the Division of Fish and Wildlife regarding the sea turtle. According to the report filed, the community member was in the Marine Beach area when he spotted the dead animal.

Division of Fish and Wildlife, Enforcement officer Frank Rasa stated that the green sea turtle has decomposed and flies were swarming around it when he arrived on the scene to investigate the incident.

The CNMI has two distinct types of sea turtles that grace its waters: the green sea turtle and the hawksbill turtle. The green sea turtle is the turtle that many Pacific people, including Refaluwasch and Chamorro people, used to catch for consumption. The hawksbill turtle is more popular for its turtle shell value.

Sea turtles need to be at least 20 years old before they are mature enough to reproduce. And, although they can lay up to a 1,000 eggs during their nesting season, only one may live or all of them will die. The many reasons for their demise include but are not limited to:

1. Poaching—Although it is against federal laws to catch sea turtles, people continue this practice. Pacific people including CNMI folks continue to catch sea turtles to eat and/or for making turtle shell jewelries. The sea turtle meat as well as its eggs gets poached.

2. Other animals—On land, birds come down to the shores and feed on newly hatched baby sea turtles. Dogs also make it tough on the baby sea turtles. Land crabs come out and pinch baby sea turtles, injuring them. In the water, bigger fish eats the smaller baby sea turtle.

3. Development—Many sea turtle nesting grounds on Saipan have given way to modernization. Sea turtles need environmentally friendly shores to lay their eggs.

Sea turtles can also suffocate on plastic debris that could be floating in the waters and eventually kill them.

The Division of Fish and Wildlife encourages the CNMI community “when you are out on a picnic by the beach to please pick up after yourselves. Plastic debris could end up in the lagoon and cause a threat to marine life.”

Federal laws protect sea turtles. Individuals who are caught breaking this law could face severe punishment including but not limited to a fine that begins at $5,000 and/or jail sentence of up to one year.

“Kudos to the community member(s) for contacting the Division of Fish and Wildlife regarding this incident,” the division said in a statement.

If anyone has information regarding turtle poaching and/or any other issue related to Division of Fish and Wildlife, contact the division at the following numbers: on Saipan, 323-6004; on Tinian, 433-1404; on Rota, 532-9494. (PR)