No Viable Eggs From Dead "Good Hope" Hawksbill Turtle
MARATHON (CBSMiami/AP) — More than 100 hundred eggs recovered from a now-deceased female hawksbill turtle are not viable, according to officials.
"Good Hope", a female hawksbill sea turtle was airlifted from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the Florida Keys Turtle Hospital in October after she was discovered severely injured after Tropical Storm Isaac brushed the Virgin Islands.
While "Good Hope" died unexpectedly, officials harvested 119 eggs that they hoped would hatch.
Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.
Turtle Hospital officials said Thursday that a reptile biologist examined the eggs and confirmed they did not contain living embryos. The normal gestation period for sea turtle eggs is about 60 days.
Hospital officials began incubating the eggs before "Good Hope" died Oct. 2.
Originally, a Virgin Islands fish and wildlife official thought "Good Hope" had been injured by fishing equipment, but now says the reptile was likely attacked by wild dogs on a beach in St. Croix.
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