2 Dead Sea Turtles Found Friday

Two dead sea turtles were found along the coast of East Hampton Town on Friday, just days after the .

The first sea turtle washed up on Georgica Beach, by the third jetty, in East Hampton Village on Friday morning, the second in Napeague State Park, between Amagansett and Montauk, in the afternoon. Both were believed to be leatherback sea turtles, which are an endangered species.

"One of our officers came across it while on beach patrol at about 7:30-8 a.m.," Village Police Chief Jerry Larsen said. The sea turtle was rather large — one officer said it was as big as the quad the village uses on the beach.

Police contacted the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Rescue and Preservation, which responded and took a biopsy. Larsen said it wasn't clear how the turtle died.

The village highway department used a pay-loader later in the day to bury it on the beach, he said.

Another leatherback sea turtle washed up in Napeague State Park later on Friday. While details weren't clear, the Riverhead Foundation responded and reportedly took the carcass off the beach.

Foundation biologists did not respond for comment.

On Wednesday afternoon, Coast Guard Station Montauk helped save a large sea turtle that was being strangled by fishing line attached to a lobster trap and buoys in the Atlantic Ocean. The sea turtle swam off as soon as it was freed.

Coast Guardsmen who helped save the turtle said it was about 6 1/2 feet long by 4 feet wide.

In Aug. 2011, on the shore in front of the in Montauk. Biologists said it had "prop slices" in it.