TYBEE ISLAND, GA (WTOC) - A couple visiting Tybee Island is likely facing some stiff penalties after six baby loggerhead turtles were found in their hotel room on Tuesday.
Thankfully, the turtles were in good health, the majority being released back into the wild.
A quick-thinking housekeeper at the hotel tipped off the Marine Science Center when she found the six live baby turtles in a trash can with water in it inside the hotel room she was cleaning. Police soon got involved and the search was on for the man and woman staying there.
Once found, Tybee officers questioned them both. Initially, the man lied, saying he found turtles in the sidewalk in front of the hotel along Butler Avenue. Knowing that was highly unlikely, the officers continued pressing and eventually got the truth. In the police report, the man said that while out on the beach just north of the pier the night before, other people were trying to grab the baby turtles, so he and the woman he was with picked up some too and put them in cups to take back to their hotel room. The man also admitted they were intoxicated while doing all this.
Staff from the Marine Science Center helped gather the turtles and release them. We spoke to some of them on Wednesday about these kinds of instances, and how often it happens.
"Luckily, it's a rarity. This is the first time for us on Tybee Island, and so we hope that what we do at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center and that huge educational push, we hope that deters any of this kind of activity," said Chantal Audran, Tybee Island Marine Science Center. "We also have each of our own individual nests. We have a number to call if there is any kind of activity that needs to be reported."
Only one in 4,000 sea turtles make it once into the ocean - just one of many reasons to not tamper in any way with this threatened species while on land.
"We don't want them to waste that hormone, to waste that energy inside of a tank here or inside of a hotel room taken off the beach. And so the idea is to keep the process as natural as possible so that they can have every bit of that energy to already make the really treacherous trek about 70 miles off coast," added Audran.
The investigation into the matter is still ongoing, and has involved agencies like the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Remember, Tybee Island's "Light's Out on Tybee" program is going on now.
This program has been put into effect to protect the nesting Loggerhead sea turtles.
Tybee Island officials urge people to turn off or shield light coming from structures visible from the beach after 10 p.m. This is going on now until Oct. 31.
If you see a dead or injured turtle or anyone harassing a sea turtle, call the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at 1-800-2-SAVE-ME. (If the sea turtle is tagged, include the tag color and number in the report if possible.)
Another resource available on Tybee is the Tybee Island Marine Science Center at 912.786.5917.
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