Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Sea Turtles Not Dead from Oil

Dozens of sea turtles washed up dead on Mississippi beaches in the past week, but apparently oil did not kill them.

Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss., said Tuesday necropsies had been completed on the turtles and found no oil. Experts are still warning the turtles may have eaten fish contaminated by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Some wildlife officials say the turtles may have been killed by aggressive shrimpers trying to haul in catches before the oil potentially contaminates their fishing grounds.
Even if the turtles did not die directly from exposure to oil, their deaths could still be indirectly connected with the spill.