How important is our insatiable hunger for fossil fuels? Enough to drive a brave old species once again to the brink of extinction?
The Kemps Ridley is the smallest of our sea turtles. (Image from Fish and Wildlife Service).
There was time when tens of thousands of them swam the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Our single glimpse of their nesting grounds in Rancho Nuevo, Mexico in 1947 revealed perhaps 40,000 nesting females. By 1978, only about 400 females made it to that isolated beach to lay eggs. Our hunger for shrimp had almost eliminated a species that had existed for hundreds of thousands of years.
For 30 years, humans have worked to bring the population back. A second rookery was established on South Padre island. Last year there were 64 successful nests in South Padre. But now, with its typical disregard for the environment and worship of fossil fuel energy, the Bush Administration is taking aim at that new refuge.
This information has come from eTurtleAlerts, an organization trying to stop an impending disaster to the nesting site.
In spite of lawsuits and objections by thousands of conservationists in 2002, an exploration company was given permission to drill for gas at the Padre Island National Seashore (Texas). BNP proceeded with the gas wells and is now proposing to drill three additional wells in spite of the presence of the world’s most enangered sea turtles…It is imperative that no further drilling is
done until after the nesting season of the Kemp’s ridleys and also after any hatchlings from nests not seen previously have emerged. This would mean no new
drilling until after August 1, 2007. Huge 18 wheel trucks drive on the beaches during the drilling phase packing the sand down like concrete and also requires constant supervision from National Park Service staff called away from their regular duties…The National Park Service is requesting public comment on this shameful request for more drilling. We have until February 28, 2007, to comment.
[UPDATE NOTE: The organization has updated this link three times, and so have I. Every time they post a new link, the agency immediately closes it down!]
This isn’t even a case of no drilling at all, but rather a case of sensitivity and timing. A few well-worded complaints might make all the difference.
