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Poachers plunder Florida turtle nests

By Adriana Brasileiro, Miami Herald
Published: July 24, 2020, 5:32am

MIAMI — Wildlife agents say it took less than 40 minutes for Bruce Wayne Bivins to find a full nest on Singer Island, transfer 93 soft-shelled, round eggs to a black duffel bag and carry them over the dunes to Highway A1A, where a partner was waiting in a getaway truck. It was the eve of Memorial Day and turtle nesting activity was in full swing.

The men were hoping to sell the poached turtle eggs, estimated to be worth around $370 on the black market, to local buyers who consider them a delicacy, according to a criminal complaint filed last week. But wildlife conservation law enforcement agents were watching their every step.

Bivins and partner Carl Lawrence Cobb, both 63, face federal charges of criminal conspiracy to violate a law that prohibits the sale of protected wildlife and with violating the Endangered Species Act, which protects sea turtles and their eggs. If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in prison, according to the criminal complaint. Bivins, who had previously been arrested for collecting turtle eggs, told agents they were for personal consumption, the complaint said.

The eggs, likely laid by a threatened loggerhead, are nothing short of a miracle: sea turtles are among the most threatened animals on earth, under pressure primarily from the severe loss of nesting habitats around the world. During their long journeys at sea to mate and nest, sea turtles risk being killed by overfishing, pollution and marine debris. Though conservation efforts in places like Florida have improved population numbers over the past couple of decades, the average chance of survival to adulthood is still around 1 percent or less.

“Poaching is quite rare in Florida but we still hear about one or two cases every year,” said Justin Perrault, director of research at Loggerhead Marine Center in Juno Beach, just a few miles north of where the alleged poachers were arrested. “It’s not among the top threats to their survival, but it’s still considered a serious crime because sea turtles are protected by state and federal laws.”

In most beaches in South Florida an army of volunteers helps turtle conservation groups count nests and patrol the long stretches of sand where females come out between March and October to lay thousands of eggs. They mark nests based on the mother’s tracks on the sand, identify species and monitor hatching activity. In some areas like Juno Beach, citizen turtle patrols work at night, monitoring nesting and watching out for disturbances and potential criminal activity, Perrault said.

But that’s not the case on Singer Island, in Riviera Beach. And during this year’s Memorial Day weekend, the beach may have been even more deserted because of sweeping stay-at-home orders that were still in effect to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Edward Reagan, the attorney for Bivins, said his client had no comments other than his statements to law enforcement agents at the time of his arrest that he took the eggs for personal consumption. Brian Mallonee, Cobb’s defense attorney, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

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