Gulf Coast Sea Turtles

Summer 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, the traditional sea turtle nesting season, means that sea turtle survival depends on both the parents and hatchlings' ability to navigate the Gulf's oily waters.

Since the beginning of Gulf's oil spill epic, the National Marine Fishery Service has been keeping track of stranded sea turtles.

Of the world's seven different sea turtle species, five swim and nest in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Leatherback: Sporadic nesting in Florida and the Mexican Gulf Coast.
• Hawksbill: Nests throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
• Green: Nesting areas in Florida Keys and east Florida.
• Loggerhead: Nests throughout the Gulf of Mexico, with 90% of nesting in Florida, especially southeastern Florida.
• Kemp's Ridley: Most endangered sea turtle with limited nesting on Padre Island National Seashore.

To date, approximately 470 dead turtles have been documented, most of them are Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, the most endangered species. Scientists are performing tests to determine what factors, including oil ingestion, account for the deaths.

Total sea turtle mortality levels could be higher because the record do not account for non-recovered sea turtles that die offshore.

Protecting the Gulf sea turtle population requires some extraordinary efforts. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service reports on and annual 700 nests in the Florida Panhandle and 80 nests along the Alabama coastline, most of which are loggerhead sea turtle nests.

A massive relocation effort is currently underway to collect tens of thousands of eggs from hundreds of Gulf Coast nests for release along Florida's Atlantic coast. While most are loggerhead eggs, recent news documents the recovery and relocation of some Kemp's ridley eggs. Participants hope that releasing the hatchlings into non-oily ocean water will increase their chances for survival.

Kemp's ridley's hatchlings from the South Padre Island population are being released into the Gulf with the hope that the nearby ocean is sufficiently non-oily to give them an opportunity for survival.

Just as there is no quick fix to the Gulf oil spill, there will be no quick fix for the affected sea turtles. It takes anywhere between twenty and twenty five years for hatchlings to mature and return to the natal area to nest. Translation, it will be a long time before anyone can evaluate the success of these heroic rescue efforts.

© 2010 Patricia A. Michaels