Prince George: We got a call this afternoon around 4:15 from DeBordieu Security that there was a dead loggerhead at Prince George near mm #15. Bill, who is DNR stranding certified, collected his equipment and we headed to PG. We found a very large, adult male loggerhead that has been dead a short time. Bill estimates the age at about 60-65 years with no apparent cause of death. We enlisted the help of some guys on the beach to dig the grave and transport the turtle to higher ground for burial. These events are a group effort and we couldn’t have accomplished this alone.
Jeff, SCUTE coordinator, said male strandings are rare and that he has only had 2 in his 30+ years. The tail on this one was about 8-10 inches long. Females do not have a tail. This old male had likely fathered a lot of hatchlings and may have died from old age or ingested something that caused him to quit eating.