Division of Fish and Wildlife staffers took the female juvenile turtle from the Managaha slipping dock after a park ranger called them up.
According to DFW turtle program coordinator Joe Ruak, it was the third dead green sea turtle they had recovered in the past two years.
Green sea turtle is among the threatened species that local and federal agencies have been trying to protect.
Managaha park rangers called up DFW after some boaters found the turtle at around 11 a.m., floating southeast of Managaha.
A necropsy was immediately conducted in the DFW laboratory.
Turtle program staffers Cris Alepuyo, Jessie Hapdei and Greg Camacho assisted marine biologist Tammy Summer in examining the turtle’s body.
A hook used in catching fish was found stuck inside the turtle’s small intestines.
Although DFW had received reports about dead green sea turtles before, Ruak said it was only in the last two years after the turtle program was created that they have performed necropsies on two dead green sea turtles.
The first one could have died of hunger and was discovered in June 2007 floating in the waters off the Bird Island.
The second one was found to have died of wounds in the neck in the waters off Marine Beach in July 2007.
