] RIVIERA BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Capt. Jeff Ardelean uses
] night-vision goggles to scan the shoreline. A grainy dark
] blob emerges from the bright whitecaps of the waves and
] crawls onto the gray sand.
]
] Shrouded in darkness, a loggerhead sea turtle drags her
] heavy body with her front flippers about 50 feet (15
] meters) up on shore. Her body strains each time she drops
] three or four pinkish-white eggs into the sandy hole. In
] all, she'll leave between 75 and 125 eggs, cover them
] with sand and lumber back into the sea.
]
] Ardelean's job is to make sure those eggs remain
] undisturbed until they hatch. He oversees 18 state
] wildlife investigators who patrol southeastern Florida
] shores for turtle egg poachers.
]
] "After you watch a turtle go through all that, that's
] when you get the satisfaction," Ardelean said.
]
] All five species of sea turtles in Florida are protected,
] and the loggerhead is a threatened species. The stretch
] of beach where the loggerhead laid her eggs is one of the
] most poached in Florida. The eggs, considered an
] aphrodisiac in some Caribbean cultures, are eaten raw or
] soft-boiled with salt and red pepper.
]
] Nearby are two active black markets for the eggs, one in
] Riviera Beach and another five miles (eight kilometers)
] south in West Palm Beach.