ORLANDO, Fla. — An investigation is underway after a Snapchat video showed a woman shining her cellphone light on sea turtle hatchlings and preventing one of the baby turtles from going into the ocean.
The top left corner of the video shows that the recording belongs to Stephanie Rushing.
She lives in Orlando, but the video appears to have been taken at a beach in Sarasota.
The series of videos show dozens of baby turtles racing to the sea under the spotlight of her cellphone.
In one of the short videos, she picks up one of the babies and shows it to the camera as it squirms around, then tosses it back to the ground.
Because federal law protects the tiny reptiles, Channel 9 showed the publicly posted video to Florida Fish and Wildlife officers.
Its law enforcement division is now investigating.
It is against the law to touch the hatchlings or even shine light on them.
Lights confuse the baby sea turtles about which direction they need to crawl to get to the ocean.
Unnecessary light may cause them to die before they reach the water.
An FWC officer went to interview Rushing, but she wasn’t home.
There are signs posted around the beach, warning swimmers not to disturb the nests or turtles.
Cox Media Group
