Best Use of Sound--The Littlest Victims of Isaac

Not every beachfront resident in Alabama lives in a condo. APR’s Pat Duggins reports how, during the final hours before the arrival of Hurricane Isaac, a volunteer group of gulf coast residents staged a last minute rescue operation to save loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings from drowning in their nests from the rough surf. Alabama is home to one hundred and forty eight nests of endangered loggerheads. Mike Reynolds leads the group “Share The Beach,” which scoured the Alabama gulf coast for nests. In the dark of night, he zips around the shore in a vehicle known as the “turtle mobile.” It’s a cross between a golf cart and a dune buggy, equipped with red head lights to avoid distracting hatchlings out of their nights and using star light to find the waters of the Gulf. Once a nest was found, a doctor’s stethoscope was used to determine if loggerheads hatchlings were out of their shells and struggling to the surface. Only then, would volunteers, wearing surgical gloves, would dig the baby turtles out and release them in the gulf.