Oiled Turtles Rescued

Oiled Turtles Rescued

By September 8 the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans had provided care to 190 sea turtles losing only three reported Meghan Calhoun of the Institute. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been slowly releasing some of the turtles off the West Coast of Florida she said.

“They released two sets in August and more are being planned” she said.

She supplied photos of the turtle LA15 the first sea turtle rescued from the oil. This is a Kemp’s Ridley turtle two to five years old and too young to determine its sex. It was brought into the center on May 18 and has recovered completely but has not yet been released into the wild.

Kemps Ridleys are the most critically endangered sea turtle with fewer than 3000 animals individuals in existence.