Dead sea turtles on Gulf of Mexico beaches at triple of past numbers

[Are_grits_groceries]

There have been 162 sea turtle strandings along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico between the Texas/Louisiana border and the panhandle of Florida this month, which could be triple the average number of dead turtles found on those beaches during May in the past five years, a NOAA senior scientist said today.

A dead sea turtle lays on the beach in Pass Christian, Miss., last week

While necropsies -- animal autopsies -- of 156 of the turtles are not complete and the turtle corpses were not visibly oiled, the deaths seem linked to the spreading pool of Gulf of Mexico oil offshore from the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, said Steve Murawski, NOAA Fisheries director of science programs, during a teleconference with reporters.

That compares to an average stranding rate of 47 for the past five years, he said.

"The stranding rate is significantly higher than background levels," Murawski said. "I have to caution that a little bit, though, because of the increased effort of looking for turtles now, compared to before the spill."

There's much more: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/dead_sea_turtles_on_gulf_of_me.html

I seriously believe I could cry forever thinking about all of the creatures that are and will be affected.

[Fire1]

1. It's pretty sickening. n/t

[AndyA]

2. BP, that f*cking company.

They were in a hurry, so they by-passed safety steps which ultimately led to this crisis.

They. Must. Be. Put. Out. Of. Business. Everything they own must go to clean up, restoration, and helping those whose businesses suffer because of this.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. BP swears the oil is non toxic now.

They put 200 bottles of dish liquid in the oil @ $456765456789.99 a bottle.

[intheflow]

4. The number of turtles found is 3x higher b/c "of increased effort of looking for turtles."

Because it's totally unlikely that the spill had anything to do with all the dead sea critters washing up on beaches across the Gulf. :eyes: