MIAMI – Five endangered loggerhead sea turtles were taken to Miami by an air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, officials said.
Sea turtles, including loggerheads, feed in Cape Cod Bay during the summer months and frequently become trapped by the geography of the Cape Cod peninsula, according to the Coast Guard. This prevents them from swimming south as colder weather arrives in the fall, officials said.
All sea turtles in the U.S. are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Officials said the Coast Guard, along with other federal and state agencies, enforces marine resource management and protection regimes to preserve healthy stocks of fish and other marine creatures.