STRP filed a lawsuit to stop the burning of sea turtles in BP oil clean-up burn boxes. STRP also filed several notices of intent to sue the U. S. government over burning of sea turtles and delaying the opening of the Texas shrimp season to protect endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles. See summary of action and links:

7.14.2010 With BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf pushing rare sea turtles closer than ever to extinction, STRP petitioned the federal government for an emergency extension of the shrimp fishery seasonal closure. The closure expired Thursday, July 15. We also asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct an analysis required by the Endangered Species Act before allowing the fishery to open as usual to determine whether sea turtles would be jeopardized. Download the 60-day Notice Letter.

7.07.2010 Sea Turtle Restoration Project filed an emergency request to halt the release of hatchling sea turtles from Padre Island National Seashore in Texas into the Gulf of Mexico with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Instead, hatchlings should be moved to sea turtle research and rehabilitation facilities and raised until it is safe to let them go. If the hatchlings enter the oil slick, the tiny turtles are likely to perish as contact with oil will hinder their ability to swim, breathe and eat.

See the letter faxed today. Read about how oil harms sea turtles.

See the response from National Park Service.

7.02.2010 BP and the U.S. Coast Guard have committed to protecting sea turtles from incineration in oil burning operations in the Gulf to settle our lawsuit. BP and the Coast Guard  agreed to clearing burn boxes of sea turtles and placing wildlife observers on board every vessel. Final details are still under negotiation.

6.30.2010 Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) joined shrimp boat captains and conservation partners in a lawsuit filed in New Orleans to halt BP oil burning operations immediately until the safety of sea turtles can be assured. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order against BP for violating its lease under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

The lawsuit was filed  in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans by Meyer Gliztenstein & Crystal of Washington DC on behalf of Turtle Island Restoration Network, Center for Biological Diversity, Animal Welfare Institute, and Animal Legal Defense Fund.

See the complaint. See motion for Temporary Restraining Order. See declarations from shrimp boat captains Michael Ellis and Kevin Aderhold.  See declaration from Todd Steiner, Executive Director of Turtle Island Restoration Network.

6.29.2010  Turtle Island Restoration Network today officially notified BP and the U.S. Coast Guard of their intent to sue to stop the burning alive of endangered sea turtles in the chaotic clean-up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. The 60-day notice letter is a first step to filing a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act. Download PDF of letter.

6.23.2010 STRP helped the turtle burning story go viral after a shrimp boat captain in Louisiana hired by BP was blocked from rescuing juvenile Kemp's ridleys that were covered in oil in the Gulf waters. He was captured on video saying that the turtles are being collected in the clean-up efforts and burned up like so much ocean debris with other marine life gathering along tide lines where oil also congregates.  See the Video on this page.

6.15.2010 STRP warns that Kemp's ridley sea turtles are swimming directly toward the BP oil spill. Highly endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles began nesting in the Gulf just as the BP oil disaster began.  A few Kemp’s ridleys also nest each year on the beaches of Alabama and Florida. They forage throughout the Gulf on crab and other shellfish. Two females equipped with satellite tracking devices after nesting this year on Padre Island National Seashore are traveling directly toward the oily water. Their pathway is mapped at Padre Island National Seashore Kemp's Ridley Tracking - 2010. See seaturtle.org.

5.26.2010 With shrimping taking a toll on Gulf sea turtles, STRP calls for more TED (Turtle Excluder Device) enforcement and stirs controversy by saying that accidental capture in trawl nets is just as bad for turtles as the oil spill. Almost 200 sea turtles were found on Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana beaches before shrimping was stopped due to the oil spill. According to an early report in the Mississippi Press, "Necropsies completed on five of 25 dead sea turtles found along Mississippi beaches showed no evidence of oil killing them." (From The Times-Picayune May 3, 2010.) Improper use or lack of TEDs may not have been detected because law enforcement was involved in oil spill issues and not able to board shrimp boats.