Two Florida men will spend time in federal prison for taking sea turtle eggs off of a Florida beach.
Sixty-year-old Carl Lawrence Cobb and 50-year-old Raymond Saunders, both of Riviera Beach, were sentenced to seven months each on Monday and convicted of transporting sea turtle eggs for the purpose of sale.
Records show a witness reported to state wildlife officials that a man was disturbing nests on North Hutchinson Island on Florida's east coast. Investigators found Cobb had removed over 200 eggs from two nests.
Weeks later, officials witnessed Cobb and Saunders remove approximately 469 sea turtle eggs from nests in the same area. They were arrested while taking the eggs to Palm Beach County.
Authorities say the eggs can sell for $3 to $5 apiece, or $20 to $30 by the dozen. By those estimates, the eggs Cobb and Saunders stole were worth as much as $3,300.
The recovered eggs were relocated in case some yield hatchlings.