NE Aquarium Veterinarian Helping Rare Sea Turtles In Gulf

By The WBUR Newsroom
May 31, 2010, 12:26 PM
2 Comments

BOSTON — The chief veterinarian for the New England Aquarium is in New Orleans to help with the treatment of rare sea turtles rescued from the oil spill in the gulf.

Dr. Charles Innis said the Gulf of Mexico is the most important habitat for the endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle.

“Their numbers are probably somewhere in the 10,000-20,000 range, and so if any significant number of Kemp’s Ridley are affected by this, it could have a significant impact, long-term, on their population,” Innis said.

Many of these turtles frequent the areas south of Cape Cod during the summer to feed on crabs.

Since the early 1990s, the New England Aquarium has cared for more than 700 Kemp’s turtles.

Please follow our community rules when engaging in comment discussion on wbur.org.

http://dugongandturtles.webs.com/ colin riddell

Bob Irwin calls for end to dugong kill
Daniel Bateman

Monday, May 31, 2010

© The Cairns Post

CONSERVATION hero Bob Irwin has called upon the Federal Government to implement a moratorium on dugong kills.

The father of the late Steve Irwin says allowing the hunting of a critically endangered species is nonsense, and should be halted, until a committee is put in place to make more informed decisions about traditional hunting.

Irwin’s call follows Friday’s meeting in Cairns of more than 70 traditional owners to discuss sustainable use and future protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

Mr Irwin, who was the guest of local dugong campaigner Colin Riddell and a speaker at a Cairns business function, said it did not matter who was killing dugongs and sea turtles, it should be stopped.

“How do we stop it? If our government had the courage, I would like to see a total moratorium on the hunting of dugong until a special committee is put in place to make the right decisions,” he said.

“Keeping in mind, though, we’ve also got to take into account that traditional owners in rural and remote areas do rely on dugongs for their food supply, so we need to keep that into account.”

At Friday’s Sea Country Partnerships Forum, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority general manager Peter McGinnity expected more Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements to be formed after the landmark meeting.

TUMRAs tell how traditional owner groups work with government to manage traditional use activities such as dugong hunting
Kelly M

Colin, what does that have to do with helping oiled animals in the gulf? Community Discussion Rules ask you to STAY ON TOPIC. If you’ve got something to say that’s relevant to the WBUR Newsroom’s article, please post it. Otherwise, please stop polluting other article’s comments with irrelevant material.