Loggerhead sea turtles returned to sea

SEBASTIAN INLET, Fla., July 1 (UPI) -- Scientists in Florida returned 142 loggerhead sea turtles to the Atlantic Ocean Monday after two years in captivity.

Ben Higgins, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the turtles were captured in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. They were raised in Texas and then brought back to Florida to participate in a two-week study to evaluate the effectiveness of turtle excluder devices in shrimp trawls, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported.

The devices are attached to shrimp trawls to allow sea turtles to escape from fishing nets while minimizing the loss of shrimp, Florida wildlife officials said. They said Florida's loggerhead sea turtle nest counts have declined 37 percent over the past 19 years.