One of the role of our Sea turtle clinic is also to receive the turtles found dead on which we realize autopsies and samples.
But from Thursday 19th to Monday 23rd of February, three turtles were found dead in Moorea, all of them killed by spearguns.
The first found was a juvenile hawksbill of thirty centimeters, a specie with toxic flesh for human consumption. Found last Thursday by the Mayor of Haapiti’s district, she had a puncture at the head.
The second one was found last Friday. It was a green turtle of fifty centimeters found by a boater in the Tiahura area. She had a puncture at the carapace. The last one waw received on Monday morning after having been injured by a speargun. Found floating in Opunohu Bay by a jet ski, it wastn’ a young green turtle (measuring 80cm for 50 kg); she had a hole on the head and the tip of the arrow was stuck in the skull…
As you consider, the sea turtles, endangered and protected, are still victims of a regular poaching in French Polynesia for the consumption of their flesh (knowing that some of the individuals killed are toxic for consumption (the hawksbill specie) and the other was too young to contain a portion of meat)….
The words from Sylvia Earle, President of Mission Blue : “Only when people are aware of such atrocities — and understand why it matters not only to the turtles but to people everywhere — can the killing be stopped”.
Sea turtles are protected by the French polynesian law and by the Direction of the Environment. Our role is to protect the nature and give a future to our next generations….
