U.S.

Stewing About A Turtle

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 7, 2001 / 11:25 AM EST / CBS

Flesh from a protected species of sea turtle that died at the Miami Seaquarium was turned into stew and eaten by some of the facility's workers.

The leatherback sea turtle had died of injuries caused by a collision with a boat last April. Leatherbacks, one of the rarest sea turtle species, are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

No charges were filed because the Seaquarium's permit to handle endangered species did not specifically say how dead turtles were to be disposed of, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lt. John D. West said.

The Seaquarium was issued a warning, but the case is officially closed, West said.

"It can't happen again," he said. "They would be in jeopardy of being shut down."

But in an interview with CBS Radio News, Seaquarium critic Russ Rector of the Dolphin Freedom Foundation said that assurance is not enough.

"They've responded to hundreds of other sea turtles in the past," Rector told Reporter Michael Hibblen. "If they didn't eat any of those, they obviously knew they couldn't. Why suddenly this one?"

Former Seaquarium employee Meghan E. Conti told a biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the incident in June - and at the request of the NOAA, Conti wrote a letter detailing the incident. Conti did not immediately return a phone call or e-mail Tuesday seeking comment.

NOAA referred the complaint to the fish and wildlife commission, which investigated the incident.

The Miami Beach Patrol brought the injured turtle, which weighed about 800 pounds, to the park on April 8. Seaquarium employees placed the turtle in a holding tank where they attempted to treat it. A park veterinarian instructed workers, by phone, but the turtle died a short while later.

After the turtle died, a worker, identified in the investigation as "R. Stollmeyer," asked Dr. Maya Dougherty, the veterinarian who conducted the necropsy on April 9, if he could take home some meat for a stew, the investigative report said.

Both Dougherty and Chris Plante, the animal care supervisor, agreed to let Stollmeyer have about three bags of the meat, Conti wrote.

Stollmeyer, a native of Trinidad and Tobago where turtle consumption is common, came into work the next day and shared the stew with several other employees, the investigation said.

Seaquarium general manager Robert Martinez later sent workers a memo warning them to properly dispose of animal carcasses or face disciplinary action or termination.

Dougherty and Plante had letters put in their personnel files saying they used poor judgment for allowing the action, Seaquarium officials said.

"If this is like a hospial, it's like eating a patient that died," said Rector. "They should be held up to higher standards."

Seaquarium executive vice president Andrew Hertz issued a written statement saying that consumption of the body of an animal was against park policy and said immediate disciplinary action was taken when officials found out about the incident.

"We certainly don't want this isolated incident to put a dark cloud over what the Seaquarium does," curator Robert Rose said Tuesday.

Located on Virginia Key and overlooking Biscayne Bay, Miami Seaquarium displays about 10,000 aquatic creatures, including sharks, starfish, tropical fish, and manatees. The 1960s TV series "Flipper" was filmed there.

The 45-year-old park also is involved in research, and rescue and rehabilitation of marine life. The last controversy involving the park was in 1995, when there was a campaign to free the park's star performer - a killer whale named Lolita, which is still at the park.

The Seaquarium's permit was renewed last week with special conditions. The park must notify Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission within 48 hours after a turtle is examined - even if it dies - and monthly reports must confirm the type of disposal and location of all marine turtle carcasses.