"A lot of dead dolphins continue to wash ashore along the Gulf Coast and now a lot of sea turtles — most of them rare Kemp's ridleys — are washing up dead too, federal officials said Thursday.

Last summer's oil spill may be to blame for the dolphin deaths, but the evidence so far suggests it didn't kill the turtles.

About 15 of the 153 dolphins that have washed ashore since Jan. 1 — including one that showed up two weeks ago — were coated in oil. On eight of those, laboratory tests verified that it came from the BP spill that began a year ago this month, federal officials say."

Craig Pittman reports for the St. Petersburg Times April 8, 2011. [2]