Oil spill update: Sea Turtle eggs relocation changes, President Obama visits Gulf

Oil spill cleanup efforts continue and this past weekend President Obama visited Panama Beach, Florida to get a firsthand view of recovery in the Gulf. Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha joined as they enjoyed some fun activities as well. President Obama spoke at the Coast Guard base and assured the nation that recovery efforts were well underway. Additionally, the Florida Fish and Wildlife announced that they were ceasing the sea turtle eggs relocation program in two Florida counties: Franklin and Gulf. You may see a photo slideshow from President Obama’s Gulf Coast visit below.

The sea turtle egg relocation program has been a success but with the stop of oil flow in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities determined that the nests may remain in these Florida counties. Kipp Frohlich who leads the Florida Fish and Wildlife’s Imperiled Species Section stated, “The decision to move nests was made after careful consideration, and the decision to let the nests remain where they are required the same evaluation and weighing of the information. Just as we established protocols to move the nests, we developed a set of criteria to help us determine when it would be appropriate to discontinue or scale back nest relocations.”

Aerial flights were used to determine where locations of sargsssum were present. Tests were determined and visible oil was not found. Dr. Robbin Trindell who is a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission explained, “The patches of sargassum we examined contained abundant life, including important prey species for sea turtle hatchlings. It is very good habitat for sea turtle hatchlings.”

As of August 11, 2010, 209 sea turtle nests have been relocated and more than 6,000 sea turtle hatchlings have been hatched and released safely into the Atlantic Ocean.