News Roundup - Wildlife Impacts

The New York Times’ Leslie Kaufman reports that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has now closed Breton National Wildlife Refuge to the public, as the leading edge of the oil slick has reached the sensitive islands that provide a home to countless birds and other wildlife.

At least 35 dead sea turtles have washed up on shore around the Gulf of Mexico, but scientists don’t think oil is what’s killing them, report Ayana Harry and Ned Potter of ABC News.

Were the sea turtles killed in the rush to fish before the oil closed commercial fisheries? Brian Skoloff of the Associated press investigates.

Many fisheries, including the oyster beds which Defenders’ Jamie Rappaport Clark calls an “indicator of the environmental and ecological health of the Gulf Coast area,” are now closed due to possible oil contamination, Reuters reports.

This is a particularly bad time of year for an oil spill, with lots of birds, fish, sea turtles and marine mammals breeding in the Gulf of Mexico region, reports Del Milligan for The Ledger.

So far, few oiled birds and no sea turtles have been brought in to be cleaned and treated, reports Janet McConnaughey of the Associated Press.

Methods for rescuing and treating wildlife after oil spills have evolved over the years, reports Rebecca Smith of the Wall Street Journal.

One surprising cleanup method: human and dog hair stuffed into pantyhose can sop up a lot of oil! Learn more from Paul Farhi of the Washington Post.