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Kentuckians Fined After Baby Sea Turtles Left In Trash Can

Posted at 1:07 PM, Jan 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-15 13:19:00-05

TYBEE ISLAND, S.C. (LEX 18) — The Kentuckians who sparked outrage after six baby sea turtles were discovered in a hotel trash bin have been fined for the incident.

Six loggerhead baby turtles were found in the trash can of a hotel room belonging to Danielle Tosh and Michael House, of Nelson County.

Police in Tybee Island made contact with them and House told deputies he had found the turtles in the parking lot. According to the arrest citation, the police officer wrote that he knew that it was geographically unlikely that the turtles had wandered that far away from the water.

Tosh and House were charged for “taking a threatened species,” which is a federal criminal offense under the Endangered Species Act.

According to the Island Packet, House and Tosh avoided jail time and were fined $930 each in connection with the incident.

Five of the six turtles were placed back into the ocean and one of the turtles was taken to the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.