Sea turtles along the coast are facing a welter of anthropogenic threats, including habitat degradation, plastic pollution, and entanglement in fishing gears, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
In early April, Volusia County, Fla., marked it’s first turtle nest of the year and the earliest on record. Experts said the reason is warmer ocean waters are causing female turtles to come onshore earlier to lay their eggs.
The tortoises were found on Sunday wrapped in plastic inside a red suitcase that was bound for mainland Ecuador. A police officer has been taken into custody, the authorities said.
