At Least 60 Turtles Drown In Winona Lake After Being Caught In DNR Nets
Posted
Tim Robertson-trobertson@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE - Fish nets caused the deaths of at least 60 turtles, most of which washed up on the northeast shore of Winona Lake Tuesday.
Lyle Enyeart, a conservation officer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, investigated the incident after receiving calls from residents of Harbor Shore condominiums reporting the dead turtles washing up.
Harbor Shore resident Pam Miller said she noticed the turtles shortly after noon. "When I came home for lunch, they were just all up and down the shoreline floating," Miller said.
Miller and several of her neighbors fished the dead turtles out of the lake. When Enyeart arrived, the residents had collected 46 turtles.
Enyeart said during his years with the DNR he has never seen so many turtles die at once. "Thirty-two years and I've never seen anything like this," Enyeart said.
Enyeart said the turtles were caught earlier in the day by biologists working for Tri-Lakes Fisheries, part of the Fish and Wildlife Division of the DNR. Enyeart said the biologists were using the nets to catch fish for a species survey. "They are not trapping for turtles," Enyeart said, "but they ended up in an area that was heavily populated with turtles."
Chris Cummins, president of the Winona Lake Preservation Association, said fish nets can be deadly to turtles caught in them. "What happens is the turtles go in and they can't get out and they drown," said Cummins.
Ed Braun, district biologist at Tri-Lakes Fisheries, said the surveyors sometimes catch five or six turtles in their nets. Catching 60, he said, was highly unusual.
"Yesterday was an anomaly," Braun said. "We've been using those nets for 40 years and this is the first time this has ever happened. It's really weird."
Enyeart said he was glad the dead turtles weren't a sign of chemicals or toxins in the lake.
"It's very sad that we lost so many turtles," he said, "but, at least we know it's not going to be something that's hazardous to the public."
