No oil on 29 dead turtles that washed up on Miss. coast; tissue samples taken for more review

No oil found on 29 dead turtles in Gulf of Mexico

GULFPORT, Miss. — The head of an organization that cares for sick marine life is saying that oil has not been found on 29 dead turtles that washed up on Mississippi beaches.

Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, said Tuesday necropsies had been completed on the turtles and found no oil. Experts are still warning the turtles may have eaten fish contaminated by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Solangi says tissue samples are being sent to labs for further review. The results could take a week.

The turtles were endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. They nest only on beaches in Mexico and southern Texas along the gulf coast. They were about two or three years old.