Gulf coast oil spill, wildlife at risk, and what you can do to help!
With the news of the rapidly spreading oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico threatening sensitive coastal areas and the regional fishing industry, folks have contacted EPI asking how the sea turtles our students work with in Costa Rica might be affected, and how they can help!
Some sea turtle species like the Kemp’s Ridley spend significant time foraging in the Gulf area near the spill and they will be the most severely impacted –many individuals will be killed, and those that survive will be exposed to many toxins. The sea turtles that nest at Pacuare will not be as adversely affected because Costa Rica’s Leatherbacks tend to migrate through the Caribbean islands, past Florida, and not spend much time near Louisiana and Texas. They forage off the East coast of the US and Canada, all the way to Nova Scotia as they follow deeper water currents in search of their favorite food, jellyfish.
That said, not much is known about what the young ones do – they likely spend time closer to shore. So there may be an impact on juvenile Leatherbacks that were born last year or earlier. Since eggs start hatching in late May, the 2010 hatchlings should be relatively safe. If you consider anything “safe” for a creature that has 1 in 1,000 odds of reaching adulthood!
Several years ago, there was a big push to drill for oil offshore of Caribbean Costa Rica. That legislation is shelved for now, but this spill is an example of what can go terribly wrong with oil drilling near sensitive coastal habitat.
Things you can do to help turtles right now are:
1. Oppose irresponsible expansion of offshore drilling (President Obama just proposed a 5-year plan to open new areas to offshore drilling), especially near sensitive marine and coastal areas, like sea turtle nesting beaches
2. Sponsor a sea turtle with EPI to protect adult Leatherbacks and their nests
3. Drive less to reduce the demand for oil and the need for offshore drilling
4. Participate in nesting beach clean up efforts
5. Tell your friends what you know!
If you’ve already sponsored a sea turtle with EPI, you can check on her status through our online database. By typing in your turtle tag number, you can see the latest nesting information about her – if she’s been back to Pacuare this year, and if so, how many times, how many eggs she’s laid, what students worked with her… Because we don’t put satellite tags on the turtles at Pacuare, there’s no way to follow them in between nesting visits and know for sure if they’re safe from this spill. We’ll have to wait patiently for her next appearance.