Recovered Kemp's Ridleys Doing Well in Public Aquarium

The majority of live sea turtles rescued from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill so far have been juvenile Kemp's rileys. Populations of these endangered sea turtles are growing, and the smaller, immature individuals are more abundant in the Gulf that reproductively mature adults. Four of these small Kemp's ridley sea turtles recovered from the oily Gulf ocean have recuperated and are now holding and on display at a public aquarium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. J Nichols and I visited them today, and they were definitely the star of the show at the aquarium.

We spoke to many visitors and the aquarium volunteer docents about the plight of these endangered sea turtles, the current conditions in the Gulf we witnessed during our recent airplane fly over, and our efforts to protect all Gulf sea turtles from being burned alive by BP cleanup operations.

This little turtle below, LA-15, was swimming around slowly but was very aware of the visitors and my camera. He came back several times for more photos, but my favorite is this nice portrait below. This little sea turtle is a living symbol of how the courage and determination of sea turtle rescue teams can make a difference in the life of an endangered sea turtle.

Sea Turtle Search Over Gulf Oil Spill

An expert team was assembled today for a flyover of the Gulf oil spill: Dr. Wallace “J” Nichols, STRP Board member and acclaimed sea turtle biologist and activist; Bonny Schumaker, pilot for On Wings of Care and experienced Sea Sheppard activist; an agency expert on oil spill chemical physics who is conducting detailed studies; and myself, Sea Turtle Restoration Project marine biologist and toxicologist. We had to pack light for our flight onboard “Bessie”, the 1971 Cessna that has flown successful missions for wildlife conservation on both hemispheres of the globe. Thunderclouds lined the horizon, but we had confidence we could maneuver to safe skies and departed in the morning hours on our flight path to cover much of the Louisiana coast and out to “ground zero” of the spill.

Our goals were to document the sea turtle habitat destruction, spot any wildlife in and around the spill, locate areas of dense oil for agency studies, and share our observations with the world.

For almost an hour we cruised at 80-120 knots in Bessie over bayous, beaches and open ocean seeing only tar balls, small islands of reddish weathered oil, and some large, thin slicks. Our agency expert relayed information on estimated oil thickness and age based on the color and type of reflections the oil produced, and I took notes detailing conditions, wildlife sightings, and GPS coordinates of all interesting observations. We spotted a school of approximately 30 cow-nosed rays swimming at shallow depths. We flew over the Mississippi River Delta and the mouth of the river, seeing oil slicks and failed booms along established oil platforms and boats leaving Venice heading to the open ocean, and the massive convergence zone of fresh water laden with sediment colliding with the oiled sea water.

The entire crew was heartbroken and amazed to see a distinct line stretching to the horizon with blue ocean on one side, gray seas on the other and weathered oil along the convergence. We had been flying over sediment and oil-covered waters the entire morning, looking at oil slicks on top of a dirty, oiled ocean. Further studies are warranted to determine if the distinct blue to gray convergence was only due to oiled waters or if sea floor bathymetry or sediment loads were also contributing. Our agency expert and observations by the team placed us far from obvious sediment convergence seen along the Mississippi. The immensity of the sea turtle habitat destruction is difficult to describe in words. A significant portion of one of the most productive ocean ecosystems is coated in oil, and the foul weather is likely mixing the oil and dispersant emulsions deep into every trophic level of sea life.

Smoke on the horizon marked the location of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the current oil recovery efforts. Over a dozen boats clustered around two floating rigs, one red rig on a square platform and one built into a vessel. Methane flares burned brightly from each rig, sending dramatic plumes of flames into the sky. Support boats sprayed liquids all over the scene, liquids that may have been seawater or dispersants. Bonny allowed us to open the windows to improve our chances at good photographs, and some of our results are stunning. The bad weather cleared temporarily, and to our amazement the ocean around the rigs was still blue. Even at hundreds of feet above the operations, the smell of petroleum inundated the airplane.

Our flight plan took us north to the remote wildlife refuge of the Chandeleur Islands. This island chain had been protected by thin strands of yellow and red oil booms, and most of these booms were now displaced. Hurricane Alex has wreaked havoc on the meager attempts to protect sensitive wildlife areas from the spill. Beaches were stained black and red as we flew high over the islands to ovoid contact with the thousands of sea birds below. Bonny knows this area very well now, having spent over 60 days in the Gulf performing flyovers to monitor the Gulf oil spill.

The final leg of the flight path was changed on the fly (no pun intended!) as real-time weather reports radioed to us allowed us to thread through narrow bands between massive thunderstorm clouds. Bessie bounced and weaved, and rain streaked across the windshield. Landing in high crosswinds was negotiated with skill by Bonny, and we were all extremely satisfied with the day’s observations.

No sea turtles were spotted from the air on water, in convergence zones, or on remote beaches. However, our team now has firsthand knowledge of the immense sea turtle habitat destruction present in the Gulf, which is growing every day. We will continue our efforts to provide transparent reports on Gulf conditions and activities in our effort to improve sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation from oil exposure, and habitat protections for future generations of sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dolphins Take Refuge from Oil in Perdito Bay, Alabama

Offshore swells of 6 feet and more in the Gulf kept all BP managed boats in safe harbor again, delaying sea turtle rescue efforts another day. Frustrated by the lack of work in Destin, Florida, I traveled west to Alabama where oil has been landing on beaches for weeks.

Perdito Bay is home to several resident pods of bottle nose dolphins, and nobody knows them better than Captain Lori, the "Dolphin Queen." I visited Lori and saw first-hand the smaller, Perdito Bay dolphins were now joined by much larger dolphins that likely resided in the Gulf. Lori has seen a dramatic influx of these Gulf dolphins taking refuge in the back bays.

The back bays we toured had several pods of dolphins, some swimming right alongside oiled booms. Booms have been in place here, almost 5 miles from the Gulf ocean, for several weeks. The yellow plastic is now brown from prolonged contact with small oil slicks that blow in from the massive slicks offshore of Alabama. It was sad to see oil this far back into what appeared to be protected bays, but encouraging to know that some of the ocean's most intelligent mammals had found a safer place to forage and a loving caretaker in Captain Lori, the "Dolphin Queen".

Black and White - Florida's Beaches Under Siege by Dirty Oil

Sea turtles large and small are dealing with one of the most horrible substances I have ever touched: weathered oil tar balls from the BP oil spill. This stuff sticks like glue, and is all over the sargassum seaweed that I saw. This is especially alarming because juvenile sea turtles use the saragassum mats on the Gulf as a primary foraging habitat.

Since bad weather continues to delay the sea turtle rescue boats, I drove west from Destin to find the impacts of the BP oil spill on Florida's beautiful white sand beaches. I have heard scattered reports that oil and tar balls had been spotted on Destin beaches, but a brief trip I took yesterday was fruitless. Driving west past Fort Walton beach I was reminded of the many sea turtles nesting along this stretch despite the offshore oil and massive ruts in the sand caused by trucks allowed to drive on the beach.

As I began my walk along Navarre beach, the striking white sands and blue-green waves were dominant, with only scattered bits of sargassum and other seaweed at the high tide line. I picked up some big and small pieces of plastic marine debris that washed ashore, some bits of trash, like I always do at the beach. Then I spotted something unusual - a dead fish on the high tide line, looking very fresh. As I grabbed my camera, I realized my hand had sticky, weathered oil on it. The plastic debris had bits of it all over, brown goo that looked like dirt.

As I walked past the final public boardwalk over the dunes, the high tide line was scattered with much more seaweed, and weathered oil tar balls. The sudden appearance of hundreds of tar balls on the beach must have been due to the limited range of the BP cleanup crews. The fact that the tar and oil is associated with the sargassum means hundreds of thousands of juvenile sea turtles will be eating and touching these tarballs.

I drove home extremely sad knowing that I had only witnessed the tip of a very big, brown iceberg of oil looming offshore of Florida's sea turtle nesting beaches.

BP Burning of Sea Turtles Captures Global Media Attention

The story of turtles getting burned alive by BP, the lawsuits we filed to stop, and related news about turtles and the Gulf oil spill have been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian in the United Kingdom and in blogs and other media outlets around the world. Here are links to some of the stories:

Deal near to save turtles from Gulf oil burnings Reuters

BP accused of killing endangered sea turtles in cleanup operation, The Guardian, UK

Turtle Deaths Called Result of Shrimping, Not Oil Spill

Sea Turtle Group To BP: Stop Controlled Burns Or We'll Sue, Houston Public Radio

New Orleans Times Picayune, Animal conservation groups say they will sue BP, federal agencies over turtles allegedly caught in oil spill burns

Groups to sue BP, Coast Guard over sea turtles burned alive, Miami Herald

Marin group sues BP over alleged turtle burning

Associated Press, Some 70,000 turtle eggs to be whisked far from oil

Gulf oil spill: Groups say intended suit to stop BP and Coast Guard from burning turtles alive, San Francisco Examiner blog, e

Endangered sea turtles being burned alive in “burn fields” operations, The Money Times,

BP accused of burning alive endangered sea turtles, Digital Journal

Rare sea turtles allegedly torched alive in the Gulf, The Scavenger blog

Sea Turtles Nesting Amid Toxic Turmoil and Gulf Sea Turtle Rescues Delayed by Weather

Oiled waves are now pounding the Gulf shores, and sea turtles are caught in the toxic turmoil. The foul weather has suspended all cleanup and wildlife rescue operations, but the sea turtles are doing their best to survive and reproduce in the turmoil. Last night, 2 new sea turtle nests were spotted and protected in the shores of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Massive ruts from tire tracks slowed the progress of one female attempting to reach the safety of the dunes, she turned around and nested among the ruts. Her nest was relocated to safety in the protected dunes. Thanks are extended to Sharon Maxwell at the South Walton Turtle Watch for the photos.

Thunderstorms throughout the Gulf in the wake of Hurricane Alex have delayed sea turtle rescue operations for another day. While based in Destin, Florida, I continue to help with local efforts to prepare for oiled beaches and assist with community efforts to prepare booms, and am in touch with the local sea turtle volunteer conservation organization and beach patrols.

The Vessels of Opportunity is a BP-sponsored program that hired boat captains to assist with oil spill operations. I located the tiny office established in Destin by BP, not too hard considering it is surrounded by packed oil booms waiting to be deployed. When a new truck arrived full of cleanup materials, I volunteered with the locals to unload the truck. With all of us working, we made quick work of a large task.

I met with the boat captain, who is a doctor and regularly volunteers to assist with sea turtle recovery on the water near military dredging operations, and we began preparations for our time at sea. The boat is a twin hull design that can cruise through smooth waters at 28 knots, a fast clip that should allow us to reach our target locations quickly. Our safety gear, sea turtle capture equipment, and oil cleanup materials are loaded on the boat and ready to go. We are hoping tomorrow's weather will clear enough to ensure a safe voyage.

Florida Oil Spill Response Growing with Community and Volunteer Efforts

While waiting for stormy weather to clear and sea turtle boat rescues to resume, I have been meeting with agency officials, marine life care facilities and local community organizers to expand the Sea Turtle Restoration Project's involvement in the oil spill response. The Unified Command cleanup efforts have been very prohibitive of volunteer help from local communities, but slowly this situation is changing for the good of the struggling sea turtles and coastal communities.Medical supplies await rescued sea turtles at Gulf World.

I meet today with agency officials in Florida to increase the scope of sea turtle rescue operations in the Gulf, and we expect to be in the water bringing in sea turtles once weather from tropical storm Alex clears up. A new oiled sea turtle rehabilitation center is preparing to be online to partner with our efforts. Gulf World, located in Panama City Beach, has handled over one thousand sea turtles during cold-stun events and is now equipped with new pumps, tanks, and medical equipment to care for the oiled sea turtles our team recovers from the spill. The Gulf World staff are qualified experts, friendly caretakers, and are dedicated to helping sea turtles in the Gulf.

Matter of Trust is a volunteer-based nonprofit based in northern California that All these oil-soaking hair booms were created by Florida volunteers.has expanded exponentially in Gulf states to respond to the BP oil spill. I visited their warehouse in Fort Walton Beach, volunteered and helped construct oil booms from donated hair and stockings. These booms have excellent oil absorbing properties, far better than the standard booms used now by BP. After working alongside the locals, we discussed ways to channel more volunteer help to increase efforts for beach cleanup and for wildlife rescue and care. The long night ended with a visit from a local Coast Guard officer who is very interested in learning more, helping test the booms, and incorporating more of this excellent community-based project into the official spill response.