Louisiana oil spill: turtle hatchling rescue mission

CURRENT PROBLEMS: Oil from Deep Horizon will be moving in exactly the same direction as the young hatchlings

If hatchlings were to fend for themselves they would face certain death

July 2010: Sea turtle hatchlings face great challenges when they crawl to the water, swim offshore, and begin their lives in the ocean. There are many dangerous obstacles, both on the beach and in the water - some natural, some man-created - that make survival difficult.

But this summer, the hatchlings of these threatened and endangered species emerging from nests on Northwest Florida beaches would face an additional, probably insurmountable obstacle: large amounts of oil from the continuing Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although oil could cause problems on the beach, the highest degree of danger lies in the ocean currents that determine where both the oil and the turtle hatchlings go.

That's why a group of sea turtle experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) began planning a way to prevent this impending loss of newly hatched sea turtles when it was clear that oil would continue to pour into the Gulf throughout the sea turtle nesting season.

'Relocating nests is very risky'

‘We had to determine the best course of action given the extraordinary circumstances of this oil spill,' said Dr Robbin Trindell, the FWC's sea turtle management coordinator. ‘If we left the hatchlings to fend for themselves, they would face a certain death. While the system we've devised will give them at least some chance for survival, it is important to note that relocating nests at any time is also very risky and would be considered only during an unprecedented disaster such as the Deepwater Horizon incident.'

KEEPING TRACK: Staff monitor when turtles come to the beach to lay eggs, and leave them in situ for 49 days before attempting relocation

The plan involves moving sea turtle eggs that are within a week of hatching from the beaches in Northwest Florida to a facility on the central-east coast of Florida. They will be transported in a special truck to an East Coast facility where they will be incubated until hatching. Once they have hatched the young turtles will released on a nearby beach. This type of action is a last resort in Florida, where every effort is made to leave sea turtle nests in place so that hatchlings emerge naturally and depart from the beach where their mother nested. Sea turtle eggs can be moved as they near their hatching date, but some eggs may still be lost because of the movement.

‘We won't attempt to move the eggs until they have incubated at least 49 days,' Trindell said. ‘Moving these eggs also brings concerns about disrupting the poorly understood mechanisms that guide a female sea turtle back to the beach where she hatched. It is possible these hatchlings would eventually return to Northwest Florida to nest. However, it is also possible that releasing the hatchlings on the east coast of Florida will result in those turtles returning to the east coast or going to some other area to nest.'

About 700 sea turtle nests are laid in Northwest Florida each year, and each nest typically contains 100-120 eggs. Loggerhead sea turtles are the most common species to nest in this part of Florida, but some nests of Kemp's ridleys and green turtles also are expected. Many of the nests will be moved by late July, but the process could continue until October, depending on when nests are laid.

‘It is a phenomenal partnership, with everyone working toward one goal, and that is to help our wildlife survive this disaster,' Trindell said. ‘There are folks out on the beaches cleaning and searching for sea turtle nests all night long now, and none of what we are about to undertake could occur without those partnerships.'

At this time, there are no plans to relocate any eggs from other Gulf beaches in Florida, although the situation is being monitored.