TURTLE EGGS ARE TO BE MOVED IN AN EFFORT TO ESCAPE OIL.

MIAMI:

In an unprecedented plan to save wildlife, volunteers will move tens of thousands of turtle eggs from oil-soaked beaches along the Gulf of Mexico to safety on Florida's Atlantic coast.

The eggs, which could number about 70,000, will be collected by hand, placed in special containers and driven in temperature-controlled trucks from mid-July.

''A plan like this is absolutely unprecedented and it would not be the choice of our scientists,'' said Patricia Behnke, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

In New Orleans, the Coast Guard and BP reached a settlement with environmental groups over protecting endangered sea turtles against the dangers of controlled burns.

Three environmental groups - the Centre for Biological Diversity, the Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Animal Defence League - had sued in federal court, charging that oil spill responders had taken inadequate precautions.

Under the settlement, the Coast Guard will convene a group of scientists to determine how best to ensure that no endangered sea turtles die during controlled burns.

''Sea turtles are already suffering catastrophically from the oil spill and it would be outrageous to add insult to injury by burning them alive in the spill clean-up effort,'' said Kieran Suckling of the Centre for Biological Diversity. ''It's a no-brainer to put sea turtle observers on the clean-up boats and whisk the turtles out of the oil pools before they're set on fire.''

''We've agreed to meet to work out the terms to make sure the turtles are protected,'' Jason Burge, a lawyer for the environmental groups said.

THE COAST GUARD BUSTED SHRIMPERS IN GULF

The Coast Guard returned 30,000 pounds of shrimp back to the Gulf of Mexico after seizing the seafood from shrimpers that allegedly scooped them up from oil-tainted waters.


The Coast Guard Cutter Tornado busted some shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico.


USCG The Coast Guard Cutter Tornado busted some shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico.
Two vessels — the Lady Monica and La Borrachita — had been fishing in an area closed by the feds due to the oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon, the Coast Guard said.

Keeping the supply of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico safe is big challenge. The Coast Guard Cutter Tornado seized the shrimp Sunday, after boarding the boats 35 nautical miles south of Terrebonne Bay.

We were curious to know if any of the shrimp were checked for contamination. Nope, a Coast Guard spokesman told us. None were tested, he said, because they weren't allowed to be harvested in the first place.

OK.

One other thing, we asked, being naive about shrimping: Were the shrimp still alive when they were dumped back into the Gulf? Yes, they were, the Coast Guard spokesman said.

So maybe we'll see them again someday.