More Turtle Hatchlings Released at the Cape
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
By: Tom Parkinson

August 3, 2010 - Cape Canaveral is better known for launching rockets but the space complex turns out to be an ideal place to launch baby turtles on their journey into the ocean. 400 more turtle hatchlings were released last night at Canaveral National Seashore. The eggs were rescued from Panhandle beaches where they were in danger because of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

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For the past month, wildlife officials have collected thousands of loggerhead, leatherback and Kemp's Ridley sea turtle eggs from northern Gulf beaches and shipped them to the Space Coast.
The eggs are incubated in a climate-controlled warehouse at Kennedy Space Center then released on the beach at Canaveral National Seashore. The wildlife refuge offers some of the darkest beaches in the state and biologists say that’s important for turtle hatchlings because they're sensitive to light.
Officials say the hatchlings were in danger of being harmed by oil and tar from the Gulf spill unless they were moved. They hope the rescue program will save tens of thousands of sea turtles.