467 Endangered Sea Turtles Killed by BP Spill So Far

[n2doc]

by Brian Merchant,

Just about everyone has been cautiously celebrating the news that the underwater geyser of oil at the Deepwater Horizon source has finally been capped (for now). So I hate to interrupt any momentary lapses of relief with ill news like this: The toll on wildlife and ecosystems in the Gulf continues to be devastating. Just yesterday, I reported that 3,000 birds had been officially recorded as being killed or covered in oil. Today, I'll look at another grim statistic: The BP Gulf spill has claimed the lives of at least 467 endangered sea turtles -- and the survival of many others still hangs in the balance.

And those numbers merely make up the official report (pdf) of those deaths recorded by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. There could be many more deaths that remain unconfirmed, or unreported. The dead turtle I found on a small island off the coast of Mississippi had, for instance, evidently been ignored by the USFW there.

The toll also likey doesn't take into account the turtles that BP burned alive.


more

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/467-endangered-sea-turtles-killed-bp-spill.php

[hobbit709]

1. Think they'll enforce the penalty for killing an endangered species?

don't hold your breath.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

2. More oil is coming

It took a while for the oil to make it 50 miles, so we still have weeks/months of fresh spil arriving. It may be capped but the disaster is far from over.

[stuntcat]

3. my heart is broken

.

[Odin2005]

4. Ugh, just ugh.

:(

[arachadillo]

5. Sea Turtles and the Oil Spill

"Just about everyone has been cautiously celebrating the news that the underwater geyser of oil at the Deepwater Horizon source has finally been capped (for now). So I hate to interrupt any momentary lapses of relief with ill news like this: The toll on wildlife and ecosystems in the Gulf continues to be devastating. Just yesterday, I reported that 3,000 birds had been officially recorded as being killed or covered in oil. Today, I'll look at another grim statistic: The BP Gulf spill has claimed the lives of at least 467 endangered sea turtles -- and the survival of many others still hangs in the balance."

NPR broadcast a compelling story the other day, echoing much the same message, and detailing the work necessary for moving the turtle eggs prior to hatching. Scientists believe that turtles get their nesting behavior (i.e., returning to the same beach they were born to lay eggs as an adult) during the embryo stage.

As for turtle deaths, the number is low because its an official count of only those turtles that have been counted. You can not count sea turtle mortality for those who sink into the ocean.

That also goes for sea turtle deaths attributed to shrimping. Other recent FL Fish and Wildlife report that the excluder devices (TEDs) either do not work well, or are not being used or used properly, contributing to continuing declining populations of loggerheads.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128543422