A dead caretta caretta washed ashore Turkey’s Fethiye coasts, after it was allegedly hit on the head by a hard object.

A couple wandering near the coast found the caretta ceratta, upside-down with a swelling and blood on its head. The incident followed a similar crime against another endangered caretta caretta in the Yanıklar beach in Aegean province of Muğla.

The brutal killing of the sea turtle, which was around 60 kilograms in weight and 80 centimeter in length, was reported to the Sea Turtles Research Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in the region.

Last year, a drowned caretta caretta has washed ashore the same beach, after its neck and flippers were tied up to a piece of marble.

Murat Saltürk, who has found the dead sea turtle reiterated that hundreds of caretta cerettas leave their eggs in this particular beach in the end of every year.

“These are species that should be protected. They do not harm anyone. It was killed on purpose. This is felonious” he said.