NOAA Fisheries Image Gallery

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Under Oil

Picture by: Carolyn Cole/ Los Angeles Times Picture taken on: June 14th, 2010

Tags: oil turtle southeast deepwater

Young Kemp’s ridley, green, hawksbill and loggerhead sea turtles live and feed in thick mats of Sargassum algae that form in convergence zones where currents meet and oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was collecting. Loggerhead sea turtles were about to lay their eggs on northern Gulf of Mexico beaches, endangering hatchlings that would enter the oil-contaminated waters.

Related Story: Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Under Oil