floating off the waters in the gulf of mexico. now traditionally, they re the result of fertilizers which work their way down from agriculture into the open water, the fertilizers become food for bacteria and allergy, which as they increase, they lower the oxygen level, fish need oxygen to survive. the question is with the increase in oil and dispersandi, does that become food for the algae in the dead zone? we do know this oil is having a destructivism pact e ismpact on environment. we have got some fresh crude, this is gulf shores, alabama. this is what is really scary. look at this, contessa, you see this border right here? this is enclosing something precious. that s a sea turtle nest, that sea turtle nest is right in the firing line of this oil spill. there s basically a modern day
hey, there, tamron. well, what we ve discovered here. we re in gulf shores, alabama. we discovered that desperate times require desperate measures. here we are on a beautiful beach and the fresh layer of crude has lapped its way into the sands and tamron, not 20 feet away we have this, protective border of tape. inside, precious cargo. this is a sea turtle nest from the endangered loggerhead and this will be a part of a modern day noah s art as they try to relocate these eggs to safer grounds. what we learned, tam ron, not just this generation that is in trouble but their parents, as well. this is what we witnessed. you could see mandy just took that swab and she rubbed it around the beak of this turtle. she s trying to get samples. there is that sample and why is this so important? it s to see if the animal is possibly impacted by the oil and
scientist and environmental expert is at the gulf shore in alabama. how risky is this? i imagine they ire looking at a tough situation either way, leaving them there or moving them. absolutely. well, here s the example, right? this beach is what s in jeopardy. this is what s in the wake of this deadly crude. inside there is a sea turtle nest. it s a lagielagerhead sea hurtl. this is the only one that s survived thus far. the plan is to take this nest along with others and other beaches and move them to safer grounds, but what we ve discovered is that it s not only these future hatchlings that are in jeopardy, but the adult
that true or not? that s not entirely true. there s a high mortality rate but it s worth our efforts to rescue and save as many of these bird as we can. particularly endangered specieses. we want to do our best to save every bird we can. gregg: talk to me about the sea turtles and the hatchlings going on about now. what can you do for them? well, that s a good question. it s gotten a lot of attention. we re actually moving every sea turtle nest on the beaches in the northern gulf. we re doing that because as the hatchlings emerge, in about a 60-day period, these hatchlings are very vulnerable. they float in the gulf, they re likely to get into the oil and we re likely to lose most or all of them so the decision was to move them before they hatch to the east coast of florida in the
79, let s talk about the effect on the wildlife, you ve been looking at. reporter: it s a postcard perfect day here in gulf shores, alabama. but what we have discovered is that this pristine beach and the amazing species that call it home are not immune to the impact of this devastating oil spill. just next to the shoreline where the oil has washed ashore there, s actually a nest belonging to a sea turtle. there are seven species of sea turt turtles, all of them are endangered. five of them frequent the waters of the gulf coast. people are being proactive, no one is in this alone and the sea turtle nest that is near the lapping waters that have been contaminated with oil will be rescued and will be moved to safer ground. but we have also discovered that it s not just the next generation of sea turtles they re trying to save, but the adults as well.