Sea Turtles Not Killed by Gulf Oil Spill but Shrimpers

The tragedy of the Gulf Oil Spill is unspeakable and perhaps will bring about changes to the desire of many Americans for offshore drilling to the chant of "Drill, baby, drill". The devastation to wildlife is only yet to be realized, but one group of sea turtles' deaths are no longer being blamed on the spill. The New York Times reports:

About 35 endangered sea turtles have washed up dead on beaches along the Gulf of Mexico since Sunday, sowing fears that they were done in by the growing oil spill.

But so far scientists have found no connection between their deaths and the spill. Autopsies indicated that the turtles had ingested no oil...

"My guess is that they died pre-oil spill," said Roderic Mast, a sea turtle expert and the vice president of Conservation International, an environmental advocacy group...

"Turtles wash up to beaches all the time," he said. "And fishing trawls are the number one cause of man-generated mortality of sea turtles worldwide."

By law, shrimpers are required to use a device that allows turtles to escape if caught. But because they are expensive and cumbersome, some fishermen fail to use them out at sea.

Unfortunately, sea turtles are not out of the woods yet, as 30 to 50 turtles have been sighted near the oil spill.

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