Justice

Florida Officials: Please Stop Painting Our Poor Tortoises

Fun-loving artists don’t realize paint damages their health and attracts predators.
An illegally painted gopher tortoise, prior to cleaning.Mark Lotz/FWC

Florida’s gopher tortoises don’t have it easy.

First came news people were “rescuing” the sluggish creatures by tossing them in the ocean—at which point they sunk like rocks and presumably died, because tortoises can’t swim.