Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 20, 1993 TAG: 9306200028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GLOUCESTER POINT LENGTH: Medium
Finding dead sea turtles in June is common because fishermen use gill nets at the same time that as many as 10,000 young sea turtles end their northern migration and enter the bay, their summer home, scientists say.
The washups cease by July, when most fishermen stop using gill nets.
So far about 50 have been found. Nearly all appear to have been trapped by fishermen's nets and asphyxiated, said John Keinath, a turtle scientist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
"I'd be willing to stake my career that human fisheries are responsible for these deaths," said Keinath, who has examined many of the dead turtles. "This is a phenomenon that occurs when fishermen and turtles interact."
Most of the sea turtles washing up on beaches are Atlantic loggerheads, a species listed by the federal government as threatened, which means they are more abundant than an endangered species but still vulnerable enough to need protection. They enter the bay in search of food, mostly blue crabs.
The dead turtles Keinath has examined this month had ingested crabs, a sign that they were healthy before they died, he said. Sick turtles generally don't eat, Keinath said.
The examinations also found no indication the turtles were poisoned by toxins in the water, he said.
The dead turtles had deflated lungs, meaning a net likely trapped them and prevented them from reaching the surface to breathe, Keinath said. Unlike fish, sea turtles can't filter oxygen out of the water. They breathe air.
Keinath said turtles trapped in nets don't actually drown because their lungs don't fill with water. Their lungs deflate, and the turtles asphyxiate, losing consciousness as a result of too little oxygen.
Of the 50 or so turtles that have washed up, all but five have been loggerheads. The five included three Kemp's ridleys and one Atlantic leatherback, both endangered species.
Eight loggerheads washed up on one stretch of beach on the bay side of the Eastern Shore, where fishermen cast gill nets in search of black drum. Ten of the 50 have washed up on Newport News and Hampton beaches, including a 300-pounder found Thursday at Buckroe Beach, said Laurie Halperin of the Center for Marine Conservation in Hampton.
Halperin said she and her colleagues at the center measure the shells and undersides of turtles that wash up on Peninsula beaches, take notes about their appearance and send the information to Keinath. In most cases, they then bury the dead turtles where they were found.
As many as 100 turtles are found dead on Virginia beaches each June.
by CNB