Punish The Illegal Beach Driver Who Crushed A Mother Sea Turtle While She Was Laying Her Eggs, And All Those Like Him.

After traveling countless miles to the beach where she was born, to lay her eggs, a poor mother Loggerhead sea turtle was run over by a careless beach driver.

Add your name if you want to make sure he pays the price AND you want to make the penalties for this offense much more strict!

"A motorist driving illegally on a dark Outer Banks beach is suspected of killing a loggerhead sea turtle as she was laying her eggs, according to the National Park Service.

"The incident happened sometime before dawn Monday in the Frisco area, Cape Hatteras National Seashore said in a release.

"Loggerheads are a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, officials noted. The National Park Service's Investigative Services Branch and Dare County officials are looking for the driver, the park said," according to The Charlotte Observer.

What do you think the chances are that criminal did it on purpose?

Because he thought it was funny...

""She had begun to lay eggs into a nest dug in the beach when it is believed, based on evidence found at the scene, that a motor vehicle struck and ran over the turtle," the park said in the release.

""Observations suggest the time of the apparent collision was one or more hours prior to 5:30 a.m., during a time where the route was closed to off-road vehicle use."

"The recreational driving of off-road vehicles is controversial but legal on some Outer Banks beaches. However, tougher restrictions are put in place for drivers during turtle nesting season.

""At this time of year, ocean-facing off-road vehicle ramps are closed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. ... to protect nesting sea turtles," Superintendent David Hallac said in the release," said the same source.

Is this really enough to protect endangered sea turtles?

Based on what happened, clearly not...

"The Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance announced Wednesday that it is offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to identifying the suspect.

"NOAA Fisheries reports all loggerhead turtle populations are listed as endangered or threatened, due mostly to deadly vessel strikes or being accidentally entangled in fishing gear.

"Female loggerheads are known to return to the same beaches where they were born to lay eggs, reports NCWildlife.org," said the same source.

Two things need to happen here:

1. We need to make sure the illegal driver who killed that mother turtle pays the price.

2. We need to make sure other endangered turtles are protected on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, located in North Carolina, where this event happened.

That's why we're asking every single member of the North Carolina legislature to pay attention to this case and meet both of those goals by doing two things.

First, we're asking them to strengthen penalties against people who would break the law by illegally driving on this vital beach, and deter them.

Second, we're asking them to make driving on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore illegal at all times. Keep it simple, for the sake of the turtles.

Don't you want to protect endangered sea turtles from suffering a fate like the poor mother turtle that was run over while trying to lay her eggs?

Then add your name to ask the North Carolina legislature to take this seriously and do something about it NOW!

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