A local bird biologist says he supports the turr hunt and turr hunters, but he does not support cheating the system.
Dr. Bill Montevecchi yesterday shared pictures sent to him of dozens of turrs, with their breasts cut out, dumped over the wharf at Flatrock.
Montevecchi says the possession limit is 40 and estimates are that the number of birds in the water exceeded 100.
Some depressing images from Flatrock early this AM of discarded turrs from which breasts were removed + carcasses discarded. What a disturbing waste of magnificent seabirds. Estimate was of more than 100 murres. Given that possession limit = 80. Wondering about illegal sales? pic.twitter.com/eyg6qGJq6U
— Bill Montevecchi (@BillMontevecchi) January 14, 2021
Montevecchi visits Funk Island—a major bird colony off the northeast coast—each year and he was surprised at the drop in common murre numbers this past year.
He says after decades of visiting the largest common murre colony in the world, he was shocked at the decline in the number of birds this summer.
Montevecchi knows there are plenty of responsible hunters out there, but his concern is with the birds and he wonders about hunters who are exceeding limits and selling the meat.
He believes it’s time for good hunters to start calling out those who are cheating the system.
