為了阻止漏出的石油漂向岸邊，英國石油(BP)和美國海岸防衛隊縱火燃燒滿溢在墨西哥灣海面上的石油。艾利斯‧麥克船長確信，燃燒的同時，也使瀕臨絕種的海龜活生生被燒死。一小段關於他的控訴短片，在You Tube 網站上播放，野生動物愛好者和保護者，早已不滿BP的深水平面鑽油平台漏油事件(BP's Deepwater Horizon spill)對於海灣所產生的嚴重污染，加上這項指控更是激起他們的憤怒。
為了防堵海上浮油飄向四個州的海岸，BP和美國海岸防衛隊持續放火燒除部分的石油，艾利斯船長指出，漂浮在海藻附近的海龜被困住，隨著石油被燒傷。
他很靠近地目睹整個燃燒過程。在石油溢出事件之前，艾利斯經營出租船隻業。石油溢出事件結束了他出租船的事業，因此，為了要養家活口，艾利斯與佛州魚類和野生動物保護委員會、國家海洋和大氣管理局(NOAA)簽訂合約，協助解救受到石油污染的野生動物。
艾利斯說，從6月1日起，「我的船隻可當作援助之用。在船上有來自NOAA的獸醫們，他們會帶走遭受石油汙染的海龜，在一天之內，清理拍照、記錄相關資訊、給予這些海龜醫療照顧，並將他們運回岸上。」他說，這些海龜之後會用船運往美國檢驗局的奧杜邦水族館(Audubon Aquarium)，未來持續為他們進行治療。
艾利斯並沒有真的目擊到海龜被燒成灰燼，但他確信海龜正受困於大火之中。根據「深水地平線鑽油井整合資料中心」(the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center)，直到至今日(6月25日)，已經放了275場大火，並清除了開放海域上總數超過1000萬加侖的石油。
那些被拯救並復原的海龜們大多是肯普氏龜(Kemp's ridley)，是墨西哥灣五大瀕臨絕種的海龜之一。艾利斯說，在他的船隻出租的合約期間，NOAA獸醫們能夠拯救大約25隻的海龜。他指出NOAA發現嘗試營救海龜在「邏輯上」是困難的。
之後由於NOAA發現救援野生動物的工作有後勤上的困難，目前已不再雇用他的船隻，而該船長也還未支領到原合約的費用。
但艾利斯仍想幫忙解救海龜和其他野生動物，以免他們遭受石油污染。他現在期盼能有非營利組織或聯盟，能夠替他買一艘船隻，一艘能夠有效抵擋遍佈石油海域的船隻，而這艘船隻將可用來拯救海龜，以免他們被活活燒死。
Captain Mike Ellis is certain that when BP and the U.S. Coast Guard set fire to spilled oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico to keep it from reaching shore, endangered sea turtles are also being burned - alive.
A short video clip of him making this accusation posted on You Tube has upset wildlife lovers and conservationists already distraught over the widespread pollution of the gulf from BP's Deepwater Horizon spill.
In an effort to keep some of that oil off the shores of four states, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard have been burning off some of the oil - and turtles floating on lines of seaweed are getting caught and burned along with the oil, says Captain Ellis.
He has seen the burning up close. Before the oil spill, Ellis ran a charter fishing business. The oil spill put an end to his fishing charters, so to support his family Ellis took a contract with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, to help save oiled wildlife.
Starting June 1, Ellis says, "My boat was used as the support vessel. I had NOAA vets on board. They would take oiled turtles from the water, clean and photograph them, record the information, doctor them and transport them to shore at the end of the day."
Then the turtles were shipped to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas quarantine for further doctoring, he said.
Ellis has never actually seen a turtle being incinerated, but he is certain that they are being caught in the planned burns. To date, 275 burns have been conducted, removing a total of more than 10 million gallons of oil from the open water, according to the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center.
The turtles being picked up for rescue and rehabilitation were mostly of the Kemp's Ridley species, one of five species of endangered turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. Ellis says NOAA vets were able to rescue about 25 during the week his boat was under contract.
He says NOAA found the sea turtle rescue effort "logistically" difficult. The agency stopped using his boat and he was not paid out for the original contract.
Because Ellis still wants to help rescue turtles and other wildlife before the oil spill gets them. He is hoping now that a nonprofit group or coalition of groups will purchase a boat for him that is better able to withstand the oily waters of the gulf - a boat that would be used to rescue sea turtles before they are burned - alive.
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作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
