A sea turtle stuffed animal is a delightful alternative to the teddy bear. Made of soft, huggable plush, a sea turtle stuffed animal will provide a young child with hours of fun. And, for soft toy collectors, it makes a terrific addition to what you already have. With the recent oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, many marine animals are finding both themselves and their home threatened †sea turtles are no exception. In an unprecedented move, officials are planning to dig up close to 700 turtle nests located on the beaches of Alabama and the Florida panhandle, with the hope of relocating them to a facility in eastern Florida, where they will have the chance to mature. After the eggs have hatched, they will then be released in the dark on the Atlantic beaches of Florida. Per Michael Ziccardi, veterinarian and oil-spill veteran from the University of California, Davis, moving the eggs is really a â€worst-case scenario†which they hope will not come to pass. It's estimated, however, if they do not go through with the move, close to 50,000 hatchlings would die because of the oil. Currently, nets are being used as markers so that anyone on clean-up duty of the Gulf, can avoid stepping on eggs and destroying them. This major egg moving operation will likely continue well past egg-laying season †eggs incubate for 60 days- which goes until the end of August. The plan is to dig up the eggs when they have reached day 50 of their incubation period, which means that the hatchling's sex will already have been determined (becoming male or female all depends on the temperature of the nest). Next, when the eggs are moved, they cannot be turned over or rolled in any way as that will disturb crucial membranes that connect the embryo to the shell, which acts as a cushion. Even a bumpy flight or turbulence on a plane is enough to break the membranes which ultimately means the embryo will die. Moving the sea turtle eggs is also of great concern because it is believed that adult sea turtles return to the same region they were born, every year so they can nest. Some researchers are of the belief that the turtle learns the location of its home beach when its still in the egg. With the egg moving plan, those that hatch on Florida's eastern shores, could very well impact which breeding population they join as adults. While east coast sea turtles have a different genetic make-up as compared to northern Gulf of Mexico sea turtles, marine biologist Philip Allman believes it is worth taking the risk to relocate the Gulf eggs. Despite the fact that a sea turtle stuffed animal is an optimal choice over other kinds of soft toys, keep in mind the real animals plight because of the Gulf oil spill. Your sea turtle stuffed toy is one lucky plush compared to what the real thing has to endure, even before it has hatched.
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