Sea Turtles

At least three dozen young sea turtles are getting a little vacation under heat lamps after being rescued from an arctic blast that caused the water temperature in an arm of the Gulf of Mexico to plummet 18 degrees in 48 hours. The turtles were left comatose by the rapid temperature drop this week in the shallow bay where they feed. Rescuers feared the cold would kill the turtles or make them too sluggish to avoid sharks.

Seven young green sea turtles got their first taste of freedom Wednesday. The turtles, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act and are considered threatened, were launched into the ocean at Mauna Lani Resort along the Kohala Coast. Hundreds of resort guests and community residents packed the shoreline to watch as the turtles, or honu in Hawaiian, flipped their way into the waters to begin new lives of freedom.

Six people suspected of planning to illegally sell more than 52,000 sea turtle eggs were arrested while trying to transport their cargo in dozens of plastic bags, authorities said. The woman and five men were caught in the southern town of San Pedro Huamelula. Mexico is a major nesting area for several endangered species of sea turtles, which are protected by law. Harvesting or selling their eggs is punishable by up to nine years in prison.

After encouraging gains in the 1990s, populations of loggerhead sea turtles are now dropping, primarily because of commercial fishing, according to a federal review. The report stops short of recommending federal endangered status for the species, now designated threatened. But scientists and environmentalists say it should serve as a wake-up call about the future of loggerheads. "We are very concerned," said Mark Dodd, a Georgia wildlife biologist.

Just before daybreak, Arcelio Fuentes stands on the beach and empties a basket holding 93 baby sea turtles into the churning surf. Some of them are snatched by preying sea gulls and frigate birds, but most make it out into Montijo Gulf to begin their mysterious, thousand-mile journey to the Galapagos Islands and beyond.

More than 100 dead and dying sea turtles have washed up on the beaches of El Salvador in the last 10 days, and marine biologists can't explain what is killing them, officials said Friday. Celina Duenas, an official with El Salvador's Environment Ministry, said it was feared that the number of dead turtles could rise to 600 in the coming days.

State wildlife officials rescued an injured 500-pound loggerhead sea turtle and sent it to Florida with the hope that experts there could nurse it back to health. The massive male loggerhead's shell was cracked when it was spotted floating in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Wildlife biologists think it was hit by a boat. Since there is no sea turtle center in the Brunswick area, the injured turtle was taken to Sea World in Orlando, where it will spend up to a year recovering.

Having already seen "Deep Sea 3-D" and "Into the Deep 3-D," you could be forgiven for thinking that Imax has gone to the water well once too often with its latest offering, "Under the Sea 3-D." But practice has delivered something close to perfection as this new film offers a startling experience that takes you down into the Great Barrier Reef without the expense, hypothermia or oxygen tanks. Previous Imax underwater entries dove into the waters off the Americas.

A cold snap has caused a high number of the world's most endangered sea turtles to wash ashore dead on Cape Cod beaches. Thirty Kemp's Ridley sea turtles have been reported on the beaches since Thursday. Nineteen were dead. Sea turtles suffering from hypothermia often wash ashore in November and December. When the animals' heart rate and body temperature fall, they become immobile. Wind blows them to shore, where they risk freezing to death.

[ CHELONIA MYDAS ] Although there may be an odd sighting once in a while, sea turtles are not typically associated with California. Restricted to warm tropical waters, the rare green sea turtle that wanders north in summer must retreat south with the coming of winter. Imagine the surprise of scientists when they discovered 50 to 60 of these turtles living in south San Diego Bay in 1976.