A dead sea turtle found today on a beach in Kahalu'u with no head or flippers most likely lost its appendages due to shark attacks, said George Balazs, who heads the Marine Turtle Research Program based at the University of Hawai'i.

A necropsy must be done to determine what killed the animal, but preliminary findings point to predators eating the flippers and head, Balazs said.

Donna Kohls, who lives on the shore in Kahalu'u, said she found the animal around 11:30 a.m. when she went out for a kayak ride.

Kohls said the turtle was about 70 pounds and looked to be a "teenager."

She said she initially thought the animal was caught in a lay net and someone might have cut off its flippers and head to release it. Kohls said pieces of netting were stuck to the remains of a flipper.

However the person who had retrieved the carcass said it could have been a drowning, she said.

"If they do the autopsy and it was a drowning then OK, but it was just a little suspicious when you have netting wrapped around what's left of the flipper," Kohls said.