As of the morning of June 2^nd Audubon Nature Institute is caring for 28 sea turtles, 26 of which have been effected by oil. I last reported that NOAA and LDWF would be doing on-sea surveys everyday this week looking for sea turtles in the oil spill. Well you may wonder why our numbers haven’t increased in the past two days. Well the answer is very simply and it all points to the weather.

 

The weather has not cooperated for our friends out on the water and they have not been able to take their boats out in search of animals in distress. As we all know here is Louisiana it is about that time of year when the afternoon storms roll in, you can almost set your watch to them.

 

So what have we been doing with the quietness? Well we have been busy taking care of the 28 residents at Audubon Aquatic Center. There is much to do with water changes, feedings, antibiotics to administer, answer media inquiries, etc. So even though no new turtles have arrived our extremely hard working team is always doing something.

 

The photo on this blog is of one of our new ‘patients’: a juvenile Hawksbill sea turtle. While most of the oiled sea turtles have been Kemp’s Ridley, this Hawksbill has been quite the eye catcher for all. Hawksbill sea turtles are an endangered species and are hunted in other countries for their shell. While this picture does not do this animal justice, you can see just how beautiful they are. The design/coloration of the shell is what people refer to as ‘tortoise shell design’. The shell is used to create jewelry, eyeglass frames, decorative bowls and even ceremonial pieces in other cultures.

 

Although I do not have much to report today there always may be more to report tomorrow for all of you.

 

What will tomorrow hold? We never know but we are ready for anything and everything. Until then:

 

"For in the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."~Baba Dioum