Pic courtesy: US Fish and Wildlife Service
A Florida man’s attempt to turn a shelf ornament into quick cash on Facebook Marketplace has instead landed him a felony wildlife charge. The man’s listing of a ‘rare turtle shell’ for $2,700 turned into an investigation involving one of the most protected animals in Florida waters.The investigation opened on 30 June, after a Boynton Beach police officer flagged an online listing of the shell to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.The listing on Facebook Marketplace described the item as a ‘rare turtle shell’, which was claimed to be in ‘perfect condition’, priced at $2,700. The accompanying photos were clear enough for investigators to identify the item as the shell of an Atlantic hawksbill sea turtle, a species that does not often turn up for sale in someone’s living room.Atlantic hawksbill sea turtles are protected under Florida’s Marine Turtle Protection Act and the federal Endangered Species Act. Hawksbills are the rarest sea turtle species that regularly turn up in Florida waters, according to wildlife officials. Their patterned, amber-toned shells were prized for generations to make jewellery, hair combs and decorative inlays, a trade that decimated populations before it was outlawed in the United States. FWC officers tracked the post to a home in Lake Worth Beach. They made contact with Addison Mullen, 63, on 1 July. Mullen acknowledged having the hawksbill shell, according to investigators, but said he would not produce it without a search warrant. He also told officers that he had ‘paperwork’ for the shell, but refused to show it.On 6 July, officers returned with a search warrant. They said they found the shell sitting on a shelf in the residence and seized it. Mullen again had no documentation to show it had been legally acquired. The officers took the shell to the FWC Field Lab in Tequesta, where a biologist examined it and confirmed that it belonged to an Atlantic hawksbill sea turtle.That finding, combined with the listing itself, led to a third-degree felony charge against Mullen for offering to sell part of a protected marine turtle species. Officers said they found no other turtle shells at the property.Hawksbill sea turtles are inhabitants of the tropical and sub-tropical waters of all of the world’s major oceans. They get their name from the unique beak-like mouth, which resembles that of a hawk. This beak-like mouth helps them to find food sources in hard-to-reach cracks and crevices of the oceans. These turtles are omnivororus, which means they feed both on plants and other animals. Interestingly, they are the only species of sea turtle that can survive on a diet consisting mainly of sea sponges. These endangered turtles face several threats. They are often the bycatch, which means they get captured in fishing gear unintended. This can result in drowning or cause injuries that lead to death or debilitation. Despite various national and international frameworks to protect them, intentional trading, and killing for their eggs, meat and shell still exists. Loss of nesting habitat due to the coastal development or rising seas from climate change is also a major threat to these turtles.
