MIAMI — Wildlife agents say it took less than 40 minutes for Bruce Wayne Bivins to find a full nest on Singer Island, transfer 93 soft-shelled, round eggs to a black duffel bag and carry them over the dunes to Highway A1A, where a partner was waiting in a getaway truck. It was the eve of Memorial Day and turtle nesting activity was in full swing.
The men were hoping to sell the poached turtle eggs, estimated to be worth around $370 on the black market, to local buyers who consider them a delicacy, according to a criminal complaint filed last week. But wildlife conservation law enforcement agents were watching their every step.
Bivins and partner Carl Lawrence Cobb, both 63, face federal charges of criminal conspiracy to violate a law that prohibits the sale of protected wildlife and with violating the Endangered Species Act, which protects sea turtles and their eggs. If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in prison, according to the criminal complaint. Bivins, who had previously been arrested for collecting turtle eggs, told agents they were for personal consumption, the complaint said.
The eggs, likely laid by a threatened loggerhead, are nothing short of a miracle: sea turtles are among the most threatened animals on earth, under pressure primarily from the severe loss of nesting habitats around the world. During their long journeys at sea to mate and nest, sea turtles risk being killed by overfishing, pollution and marine debris. Though conservation efforts in places like Florida have improved population numbers over the past couple of decades, the average chance of survival to adulthood is still around 1 percent or less.
