Tradeoffs: Baby Turtles and Beach Clean Ups

FireDogLake posts on the continuing challenges of the gulf oil spill:

The Pensacola News Journal states that heat indices of 114 have regularly been observed on the beach there. It should not be surprising then, that with the health of cleanup workers in mind, the efforts are being moved to nighttime, when conditions are much more tolerable. Sadly, however, lighting Florida beaches at night is a huge mistake, because hatchling sea turtles orient towards the brightest part of the horizon. Sadder still, we are now at the time of year when these turtles are hatching and trying to return to the sea from the onshore nests where the eggs hatch.

New International Coalition for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

From the AAAS Policy Alert:

Representatives from 90 countries have joined together to approve the formation of an Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) by the UN General Assembly. IPBES will carry out high-quality peer reviews of the science on biodiversity and ecosystems to provide gold standard reports to governments and will outline policy options and responses making sense of reports and assessments conducted by United Nations bodies, research centers, universities, and others as they relate to biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Pelican Eyes & Green Iguanas

We're pleased to be working with Pelican Eyes Hotel and Resort to reestablish populations of native Green Iguanas in the natural habitats surrounding San Juan del Sur, educate visitors and local population about the valuable role that these reptiles play, and the importance of wildlife protection.

Turtles and the Oil Spill

Our friends at SeaTurtle.org remind us that there are a number of sea turtles that are being actively tracked by satellite in the Gulf of Mexico. They are also aggregating news on the oil spill: http://www.seaturtle.org/news/