Endangered turtles injured by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster – in pictures

These newly released images of damaged wildlife following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 have come to light, in response to a freedom of information request made by Greenpeace asking for details of endangered and threatened Gulf species impacted by the spill
  
  


BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle
Oil sits atop the ocean while oil burns in the background Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
An oil-covered Kemp's Ridley turtle is retrieved Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle
Dr Brian Stacy cleans an oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle. Vets and scientists from organisations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission are capturing heavily oiled young turtles 20 to 40 miles offshore, as part of ongoing animal rescue and rehabilitation operations Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
An oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle, which was cleaned, given veterinary care, and taken to the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans (NOAA) Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
Efforts continue to assess the condition of these endangered sea turtles and capture those in heavy oil Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
A close-up of a thickly oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
In the Deepwater Horizon disaster, about 4.9m barrels of oil leaked into the sea around the Gulf of Mexico Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle
“While the White House was trying to keep the emphasis on rosy stories of rescued animals being released back into the wild, they were sitting on these images of garbage bags full of Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles,” says Greenpeace Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
A dead Kemp's Ridley turtle Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle covered of oil
Another dead sea turtle lies on a beach Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle
Staff at the Audubon Aquatic centre nurse a sea turtle back to health Photograph: NOAA
BP Deepwater oilspill: Critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle
And finally, the turtle emerges clean and oil-free Photograph: NOAA
 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

CAPTCHA

*