Clay Davenport
Cerebral Nomad
About 170 sea turtles were released off the Treasure Coast Thursday after spending about two years in captivity.
The U.S. Coast Guard and biologists with the National Marine Fisheries Service released 123 loggerhead turtles about 15 miles east of the Fort Pierce Inlet. The remaining 50 turtles were released into the Indian River Lagoon near the Sebastian Inlet.
The turtles were collected as hatchlings near Fort Lauderdale, raised in Texas, then transported to Panama City last month, where they were used in a nine-day study of turtle excluder devices.
The devices, which aim to prevent turtles from getting trapped in fishing nets, are about 3 feet by 4 feet and resemble potato chips, said Ben Higgins, a research biologist with the service.
The contraptions are attached to nets and have vertical bars wide enough to allow shrimp and fish to be captured in the nets but too narrow to ensnare turtles.
When applied correctly, turtle excluder devices are about 95 percent effective, Higgins said.
Link
The U.S. Coast Guard and biologists with the National Marine Fisheries Service released 123 loggerhead turtles about 15 miles east of the Fort Pierce Inlet. The remaining 50 turtles were released into the Indian River Lagoon near the Sebastian Inlet.
The turtles were collected as hatchlings near Fort Lauderdale, raised in Texas, then transported to Panama City last month, where they were used in a nine-day study of turtle excluder devices.
The devices, which aim to prevent turtles from getting trapped in fishing nets, are about 3 feet by 4 feet and resemble potato chips, said Ben Higgins, a research biologist with the service.
The contraptions are attached to nets and have vertical bars wide enough to allow shrimp and fish to be captured in the nets but too narrow to ensnare turtles.
When applied correctly, turtle excluder devices are about 95 percent effective, Higgins said.
Link
