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State and Federal officials have hatched a plan to move thousands of sea turtle eggs from the Florida panhandle to the oil free east coast to protect the hatchlings. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, moving eggs is a risky proposition at best.

From the last week of July through early September, tens of thousands of sea turtles would normally hatch along Panhandle coasts and make their way into the Gulf. Bill Wargo and 20 volunteers scour Alligator Point every morning looking for new sea turtle nests.

Wargo says the plan is to move the eggs when they are about  50 days old or ten days before their scheduled hatchling.

“We will very careful, and I mean very carefully, dig into the nests and pull those eggs out as gently as possible, without rotating them,” Wargo said.

The eggs will be transported to the oil-free east coast and released into the Atlantic. It is unclear whether the hatchlings, which instinctively come back to the nesting area when it is time for them to lay eggs, will come back to the panhandle or where they were released.

“They get magnetic signals and may, even if we move them to Cape Canaveral, which is the plan, they may return to where we gather them,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Spokesperson Henry Cabbage said.

“This is one of the first nests of the season. These eggs are due to be dug up on August 11th, but if the oil gets here sooner, it could create real problems.

The turtle patrol is also preparing plans for posting cages around the nests in case they are born early. The live hatchlings would then be transported to an oil free beach and released.

The best case scenario is that one in five transplants will be successful.