"In today's National Park Service incident reports, an ominous mention of oil-tar balls and mats washing up on Padre Island National Seashore in Texas. No confirmation yet if this is BP Deepwater Horizon oil or not. If it is, that's bad—obviously—since it would mark the first landfall far to the west of the well site.

More alarming in the report however was the perplexing mention of the release of 116 critically endangered Kemp's Ridleys sea turtle hatchlings from that same beach where oil was washing ashore on that same day.

Even if the oil-tar on Padre Island doesn't bear the Oilpocalypse signtaure, I can't help but ask: Why are they releasing turtle hatchlings anywhere into the Gulf of Mexico at this point? Exactly what future do they imagine lies ahead for these rarest of all sea turtles, 116 of whom may hold the key to survival of the species?

Here's the incident report in its entirety:

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/why-are-critically-endangered-sea-turtle-hatchlings-being-released-oil"