Turtle Deaths Called Result of Shrimping, Not Oil Spill

[jpak]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/science/earth/26turtle.html

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist says he believes most of the dead turtles that have been examined since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill died not from the oil or the chemical dispersants put into the water after the disaster, but from being caught in shrimping nets, though further testing may show otherwise.

Dr. Brian Stacy, a veterinary pathologist who specializes in reptiles, said that more than half the turtles dissected so far, most of which were found shortly after the spill, had sediment in their lungs or airways, which indicated they might have been caught in nets and drowned.

“The only plausible scenario where you would have high numbers of animals forcibly submerged would be fishery interaction,” he said. “That is the primary consideration for this event.”

Many times the usual number of turtles have been found stranded this year, but NOAA has cautioned from the beginning that the oil spill is not necessarily to blame.

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[Lorien]

1. Oh please, we already know that NOAA is "under the command" of BP

and isn't going to be honest about any of this.

[midnight]

2. Really, the death of sea turtles not necessarily related to oil spill?

[jpak]

3. Shrimping IS the single largest source of man-made mortality with adult sea turtles

before TED regulations, dead loggerheads littered beaches on Georgia sea islands every shrimping season.

TEDs significantly reduce turtle by-catch - but if they are improperly attached (or sewn shut in many cases) - TED-equipped shrimp nets can kill lots of sea turtles.

Shrimpers hated TED regulations when they first came out, and many dead sea turtles that washed up on Georgia beaches post-TED regs had neat bullet holes in their skulls.

But of course, shrimpers denied shooting them...

[Nihil]

6. Good luck ...

You're right but you're fighting against the "conspiracy theorists"
("BP owns da world ya know") as well as the "common sense guys"
("Dead things in the Gulf - must be due to the oil thing") and the
"fishermen" ("Yeah, it probably was due to shrimping BUT IT'S STILL
BP'S FAULT").

:argh:

[eowyn_of_rohan]

4. Necropsy of sea turtles dying after BP’s Gulf oil spill under gag order

Site has a wealth of good info on this, with many links to more

http://thedailybite.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/necropsy-of-sea-turtles-dying-after-bps-gulf-oil-spill-under-gag-order/

[Curmudgeoness]

5. This is what I suspected from the start. Shrimpers were desparate..

..and the removed the TED's (turtle exclusion devices) to harvest as many shrimp as they could before the waters were closed. So were these deaths directly related to the oil spill---you betcha. Just not directly related to the "oil".