One Bullet Found in Slain Turtle; Others Sought

Animal experts conducting an examination Friday of the remains of a 1,000-pound female leatherback turtle found shot to death off Laguna Beach said the animal was bearing eggs, but found only one of several bullets believed to have caused its death.

“One .22-caliber hollow-nose slug was found in the carapace (shell), but the other bullets could not be located immediately,” said John Cunningham, director of the Friends of the Sea Lions Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach.

The animal was determined to have been in good health when it was shot, although it could not be determined if the eggs had been fertilized. Cunningham said the turtle could have been as old as 80.

“Her kind are very long-lived,” he said. The turtle, measuring 7 feet in length and 8 feet, 8 inches across the flippers, was found Thursday morning off Victoria Beach in South Laguna.

Bill Ford, executive director of the mammal center, which cares for injured or ill marine creatures, said they are seeking other bullets during the necropsy of the turtle, which was continuing late Friday. He added that the recovery of the single, small-caliber bullet in the shell, which was not a fatal shot, suggests that “there might have been two weapons fired, including one of larger caliber.”