Florida Woman Apologizes For Squatting Over Sea Turtle

MELBOURNE BEACH, Florida - A Florida woman has taken to social media to apologize for photos that appear to show her harassing a sea turtle.

Photos of her and another female who appear to be riding a sea turtle on a beach in Brevad County, Florida sparked outrage on Facebook this week. After receiving harsh criticism on her Facebook page, Stephanie Peache Moore wrote:

"I want to start off by saying I'm truly sorry for my actions what I did I now know was wrong since the turtle was not nesting and did not have babies I thought it would be ok to be near it I did not actually sit on it I squatted above it and I'm learning and extreme hard way of what I did was wrong my family are helping me and educating me on turtles and other wildlife please let me take this opportunity to again say I'm sorry and please allow me and my family to have time to deal with this and please stop the harassment and the hate because my wrong doing."

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials are aware of the photos and are investigating the incident. Harassment of marine turtles is a third degree felony in Florida, punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

Image Credit: Composite screen shots via Facebook

Article originally published on July 4, 2015