Sea Turtle Killed by Poachers in Nicaragua
November 11, 2018

She desperately tried to get to the shore to lay her eggs but her wounds were too much to overcome.
Credit: JP Beland, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - Operation Jairo Campaign

An endangered green sea turtle has been brutally killed by poachers in Nicaragua. Volunteers with Sea Shepherd's Operation Jairo campaign saw her come onto the beach from the water and ran to protect her from poachers but found out it was too late. She had already been attacked by poachers who had cut her open to take her eggs from inside her and threw her back in the water, leaving her to die. She died shortly after she washed in on the beach and was then buried by the Sea Shepherd volunteers. This is the worst attack against any sea turtle that we have ever heard of. It is a disgusting and horrific display of the kind of hatred that some people in this world have. There is no apologizing for those that did this or any kind of rationalizing that can be done, this is a disturbing act of violence that was clearly done by one or more people who are very sick.

Our thoughts go out to the Sea Shepherd crew that had to deal with the trauma of this but we are thankful that they were there to document what happened and were able to give her the dignity of being buried with respect. There has only been one article about this event that we can find so we are linking to the Sea Shepherd post on Facebook as well. We cannot let something like this go unnoticed and we must inform ourselves and each other of things like this so we remain committed to stopping the violence and destruction unleashed upon the living beings of this earth every single day by cruel, selfish humans who only seek personal or monetary gain without regard for the lives and natural systems they are destroying. We will keep fighting and we will keep growing our ranks every day so we can defend North Atlantic right whales and all the other species that call the oceans home. Sea Shepherd is still on the beaches of Nicaragua and as of this writing they have saved 1,523 turtle eggs and put them in a secure hatchery where they will be away from poachers, giving us some hope for the future.

Sources:

Poachers brutally harvest turtle’s eggs, then leave it to die on the beach

Sea Shepherd Operation Jairo Campaign - Facebook post - 11/5/2018