Impacts Of Oil On Sea Turtles - Sea Turtles and Oil Spills

Impacts Of Oil On Sea Turtles - Sea Turtles and Oil Spills Oil spills can be devastating for a variety of marine life, especially for endangered species like sea turtles.   There are 7 species of sea turtles, and all are endangered. Sea turtles are animals that travel widely, sometimes thousands of miles. They also use the shorelines, crawling up onto beaches to lay their eggs. Because of their endangered status and their wide range, sea turtles are species that are of particular concern in an oil spill. There are several ways that oil can impact sea turtles. How Do Oil Spills Effect Sea Turtles? Ingestion of Oil or Oil-Contaminated Prey: Turtles dont tend to avoid oil spill areas, and may continue to feed in these areas. They may eat oil or prey that has been contaminated by oil, resulting in a number of complications for the turtle. These can include bleeding, ulcers, inflammation of the gastrointestinal system, problems with digestion, damage to internal organs, and overall effects on the immune and reproductive systems. External Effects From Swimming in Oil: Swimming in oil can be dangerous for a turtle. Breathing vapors from the oil can result in injury (see below). Oil on the turtles skin may result in skin and eye problems and increased potential for infection. Turtles can also suffer burns to their mucous membranes in the eyes and mouth. Inhalation of Oil Vapors: Sea turtles must come to the ocean surface to breathe. When they come to the surface in or near an oil spill, they may breathe toxic fumes from the oil. Fumes may result in irritation of the turtles eyes or mouth, and internal damage such as irritation to the respiratory system, injured tissues or pneumonia. Impacts On Sea Turtle Nesting: Sea turtles nest on beaches - crawling up on the beach and digging holes for their eggs. They lay their eggs, and then cover them up, until the turtles hatch and the hatchlings make their way to the seas. Oil on beaches may affect the health of the eggs and the hatchlings, leading to a lower hatchling survival rate. What Can Be Done? If affected turtles are found and collected, they can be rehabilitated. In the case of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, turtles are being rehabilitated at 4 facilities (1 in Louisiana, 1 in Mississippi, and 2 in Florida). More Information on Oil Spills and Sea Turtles: Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program. Accessed June 10, 2010.NOAA. 2010.  Sea Turtle Strandings and the Deepwater Oil Spill  (Online). NOAA. Accessed June 10, 2010.

20 Signs You Are a College Nerd

20 Signs You Are a College Nerd They say college can change your life and theyre not kidding. You might start college with the same mindset you had in high school but chances are youve done a full 180 (or three) by the time the first semester ends. Weve rounded up the Top 20 signs that your might be going down the path of Geek Chic †¦ or just plain Geek. 1. You set your alarm early for Back to School sales. Some people think the Friday after Thanksgiving is the most important shopping day of the year, but not you. No, you march to the beat of a different drum †¦ one that starts mid August with Back to School sales. Face it, you just cant pass up 10 for $10 deal on boxes of staples, oddly shaped push pins and novelty folders. 2. Texting, IMing or pinging your roommate is the norm. No matter if your roommate is off campus, at the game or just across the room – if you need to talk, you do it by device. 3. Arguments about Star Trek can change the course of your dorm life. If you can name all the movies, have a passionate opinion about best captain and crew or have ever requested to change rooms because your roommate was a â€Å"Picard Man† then youre deep within the College Nerd Quadrant. 4. Star Wars counts, too! Were you standing in line at midnight for the Collectors Edition Blu-Ray Bonus Digital Content release party? We thought so. 5. You skip classes to get a head start on the paper you know your professor will assign. After all, youve already read ahead seven chapters so why not get going on that paper you know will be due in five weeks? 6. You rotate the names for your WiFi. Usually you stick to the names of favorite alien races but sometimes you mix it up with your favorite Star Dates. 7. Everything runs off your PC. Youve set up your computer to control the lights, temperature and playlists so you never have to get up. 8. You have specific playlists for certain classes or projects. You cant crack a chemistry book without cuing up Weird Science and that Feminism paper isnt going to get done until youve made it through Aretha Franklins Greatest Hits. 9. Your friends ask you to audit their class just so they can have your notes. Between the pie charts, keyword breakdown and abstract you provide, what you get out of a lecture is better than the textbook. 10. You have textbook editors in your email address book. Looking for misspellings, outdated information and poorly constructed chapters is your favorite past time. Youre on a first name basis with editors though oddly enough they never thank you for your regular correction notes each semester. 11. You started offering to repair computers as a way to meet people. After a few weeks, however, you realized you preferred the company of the computers. 12. Class numbers can be an issue. Did you want to take Prehistoric Pottery until you found out the course number was even? Or did you only sign up for Modern Dance because that number was odd? College nerds put a lot of stock in lucky numbers. 13. Resolving arguments can be difficult. When you and your roommate or study group have a disagreement its usually resolved by Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock or Evens-Odds-Binary. 14. Your plans for a long weekend tend to be a bit different. While others might be planning for parties, bar crawls and concerts, youre packing your holiday weekend with LARPing, Star Trek RPG and a Harry Potter marathon. 15. If its worth doing, its worth tracking. Youve been following – and charting – your study to grade ratio since the first grade. 16. Your idea of a Care Package is slightly different. Other students may look forward to boxes of photos and cookies, but your family knows to send Anime DVDs and supplies for your next cosplay project. 17. Integration is everything. Youve made it your personal mission to work with every instructor you have to integrate Pinterest, Twitter, DropBox and 4Chan into the curriculum. Youre saving Flipboard, Seesmic and ProPublica for next semester. 18. Semantics are important. Theyre not dolls or action men, theyre collectible figures. Its not a waste of an entire weekend, its an Epic Dungeons and Dragons Campaign. 19. Your College criteria was highly specific. Some students check out concert venues, party spots or sports teams when considering college. You wanted to know how close the libraries were, how many bookstores there were and whether or not there was an active RGP/LARP/MMOG community. 20. Your friends can turn your room into a drinking game. Rules include one shot for every calculator and double shots for pamphlets or promotional materials for Starfleet Academy, Hogwarts and other not-technically-actual schools. If most the listed points above are true, congratulations one more college nerd is among us! To know for sure, you can also take the quiz to find out which type of student you are. Did we miss a giant red flag of college nerdom? Add your own nerd signals in the comments section below.