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Sea Turtle Necropsy Results!

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  May 4th, 2010 at 10:02 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

#OilSpill: Yesterday’s news, in the LATimesblog:

Gulf oil spill: 23 dead sea turtles wash ashore in Mississippi

That story said that necropsies were being performed on the dead turtles. How long can a turtle necropsy take?

Thanks to Google,  today I was able to find a reference to the necropsy results. It’s contained in an AP wire story at the website of WTVM in Columbus, GA, under the following headline:

Sea turtle found dead on Ala. shore

Results below the fold.

The entire text of the article:

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (AP) – A dead sea turtle has been found on the shore in Dauphin Island.

George Crozier, director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, said Tuesday that scientists don’t think the death is linked to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Necropsies on 29 turtles found along Mississippi beaches over the weekend revealed no evidence of oil.

Experts warn the turtles may have eaten fish contaminated by the oil spill. Results from tissue samples taken at a marine life rehabilitation center in Gulfport, Miss. are to return in a week.

Did you get that? Scientists don’t think the deaths are linked to the oil spill!

That’s really good news, right? Right?

Then why is the biggest media market carrying the news in Columbus, GA?

And why are you reading about it for the first time at RedState?

Hmmmmm?

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COMMENTS

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  • WoodstockRedCat

    That’s the final piece of the evidence, so I would assume the “no evidence of oil” is on skin and other organs?

    • cabanon

      The fumes from the oil can apparently lead to death for a sea turtle.

  • pquinn27

    29 Sea turtles beached in such a short amount of time, and there is no reason to think this is at least related to the oil spill?

    Can we not agree that oil spills are objectively bad things? Are you trying to score political points with turtle necropsies? And it seems like the logical conclusion of the statement is: sea turtles not directly killed by oil spill, oil spill not inherently bad for the environment.

    Also, Google News has 813 articles on the subject – ranging from AP to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to the LA Times.

    • WoodstockRedCat

      If you would care to read back through Vlad’s history you will see him saying no such thing.
      The point was made by a leading Miami scientist that this is the time of year when this type of thing happens (sea turtles washing on beaches).

      If we had a news media that wasn’t always “scoring political points” and just reported facts we wouldn’t have to point out things like this.

      What we are hoping for is that that nature, the sun, wind and waves will dissapate alot of this before it even touches the shoreline.

      • pquinn27

        I can see how two reasonable people can disagree as to the gist of the post. Perhaps I should have not posted in haste?

        In all fairness though, another source suggests that while some dead turtles do wash ashore each year, the number at this point is much higher than usual.

        Bottom line, I suppose, is that no one like sea turtles to die, and no one wants to see the Gulf Coast destroyed by the oil spill. We will see what the next week brings.

        • littlehouse18

          sea turtles living out there, hence the higher numbers washing up. There are lots of efforts to help them increase their numbers, perhaps these are working or perhaps the environment has been good for them lately. Jumping to conclusions seems to be the vogue these days.

          • http://aposematic.wordpress.com aposematic

            It must fit the lefts ideology of hate for jumping to conclusions to be in vogue…indisputable factual poof of this statement: NY SUV “stupid” bomber might have been angry about Obamacare or something, but don’t dare jump to the conclusion that a Muslim or Islamic terrorism might have been behind it.

    • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

      A little background: Oil Spill Reality Check.

      I’m in Louisiana. Journos and enviros have been peeing themselves since last week, waiting for images of oiled wildlife.

      So far, there has been a single oiled bird that I’m aware of, and that was last Friday. I’m pretty sure that if there were a #2, we would have heard about it by now.

      Are oil seeps “objectively bad things”? A large percentage of the oil in marine environments is natural in origin. If you’re not inclined to believe me, ask the residents of Long Beach, CA.

      Read this article in the New York Times. Its authors’ point of view and mine are not all that different.

      • pquinn27

        I am in NC, the Tar Heel state. A similar phenomenon occurs here, though with tar and pitch rather than oil.

        Oil seeps might not be bad things. However, this is not an oil seep. This is an oil well pouring oil into the ocean. Were this natural, then one would expect the world’s oceans to be covered in oil. While similar discharges may occur, the fact is that this one was created by deliberately drilling into the ocean floor.

        For what it’s worth I am conservative, but a very strong conservationist first and foremost. Drilling off the US coast will not eliminate or even significantly reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Santa Barbara in ’69 was the last time we considered this issue seriously. Perhaps now is a good time to look at it again.

        • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

          There was one other major production spill around that time, Bay Marchand, offshore LA.

          After those events, industry built and perfected reliable Surface Controlled Subsurface Safety Valves. Result: No big production spills for 40 years.

          But there have been quite a few big tanker spills, haven’t there?

          Your reluctance to drill here in reasonable places (where the blowout preventers can be on the surface, for example) causes us to have to bring oil in in tankers, or drill in 5,000 ft of water, outside the diving limit.

          Both of those are more environmentally risky than what I would do.

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
    • dlerley

      How many sea turtles NORMALLY wash up on shore during that period of time. Also, how many more sea turtles are there now, compared to say, 10 years ago.

  • http://www.libertytreehugger.com reverelth

    did Faisal Shazad kill more, easier citizenship?

  • snowshooze

    As an Alaskan, I am a bit sensitive about the oil problem… ( Not a spill, a continuous flow…) so I appreciate your perspective and posting up the news, otherwise I might have some kind of fit…if I read the MSM spin version without qualification.

  • trutexan
  • theduck6

    the medias eagerness to jump on a story that furthers their agendae and ignore those that disprove their preconcieved ideas. Just like those, Mayor Blumberg, as a prime example, who were so darned sure or at least hopeful the Times Sq bomber was a Tea Partier and not a militant Islamic terrorist. Oh sorry, not so much after all.

  • kwh9

    Some here on the Mississippi Coast think the sudden increase in dead turtles is due to shrimpers. They were alowed to rush out and harvest, prior to the opening of the season, in order to get ahead of the approaching oil. Some may not have had their turtle buckets on, which prevent turtle drownings.

  • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

    Original here.

    ROBERT, La. – There have been 38 sea turtle strandings reported from Alabama through the Louisiana delta since April 30. Sea turtle stranding responders working under the guidance of NOAA ? who responds to thousands of sea turtle strandings every year ? recovered all but one of the turtles. All those recovered were dead except one, which died shortly thereafter. Most of the turtles identified so far are endangered juvenile Kemp?s ridley turtles. No evidence of oil was found on the beaches where the strandings occurred.

    ?Based on careful examination, NOAA scientists do not believe that these sea turtle strandings are related to the oil spill. NOAA and its partners have conducted 10 necropsies so far ? none of ten turtles showed evidence of oil, externally or internally,? said Barbara Schroeder, NOAA national sea turtle coordinator.

    The turtles have been sent to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, MI to determine, if possible, whether their deaths are linked to oil, or another cause. Based on careful examination, NOAA scientists do not believe that these sea turtle strandings are related to the oil spill. NOAA and its partners have conducted 10 necropsies so far ? none of ten turtles showed evidence of oil, externally or internally. At least 15 more necropsies of dead sea turtles are planned in the coming days. While the complete results can take several weeks because of the time needed to analyze tissue, preliminary results are available immediately after the necropsy itself, which takes several hours.

    Potential Causes
    There are thousands of sea turtle strandings reported every year in the Gulf of Mexico. In recent years, sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico have shown a pattern of increased stranding during this time of year. NOAA believes the stranding numbers are higher than normal and are working to understand why.

    Sea turtles die of natural causes, and are also affected by natural factors such as algal blooms. Primary human causes for sea turtle deaths include being caught in fishing nets, shrimp trawls and vessel strikes.

    Monitoring
    Overflights of the oil spill area yesterday showed 30-50 sea turtles (species unknown) swimming in or near the oil spill. As weather allows, NOAA will continue to do daily overflights of the slick, which will guide mitigation efforts, such as burning of oil and application of dispersants. NOAA is working on a plan to address large numbers of oiled sea turtles.

    There are five sea turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico. Kemp?s ridley, leatherback, and green sea turtles are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act; loggerhead and hawksbill sea turtles are listed as threatened.