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300 sea turtle eggs from panhandle beaches are in an 18-wheeler headed to Cape Canaveral and away from the oil. Today the first of 700 sea turtle nests were moved in an effort to keep the BP oil spill from killing the hatchlings. Wildlife experts are going to great lengths to protect the eggs during the trip, but As Whitney Ray tells us, less than half are expected to make it to the east coast alive.

It took a little over an hour to dig these sea turtle eggs out of the sand and place them one by one in Styrofoam coolers.

A team of wildlife experts worked diligently to keep the turtle embryos from breaking loose from their shells.

The delicate cargo was then loaded into this FedEx Truck, where it will be up to the drivers to take the eggs to the east coast and away from oil.

Moving the eggs is a gamble. Early estimates showed only one out of every five eggs surviving the seven hour trip. After a test run, wildlife experts now think as many as half could make it.

Joe Reedy, quality control coordinator for FedEx Shipping Technician Joe Reedy says the trick is keeping the truck at a constant temperature of 85 degrees and stabilizing the eggs so they don’t move too much.

“We have a temperature control mechanisms in place and air shock suspension as well has cushions under the pallets,” said Reedy.

The closest oil plum is still about 100 miles to the west and no oil is on this coast; which brings into question the wisdom of moving the eggs now.

But Wildlife Experts says there’s no telling where the oil will be in 10 days when the eggs are scheduled to hatch. FedEx will be moving sea turtle eggs through August. They baby turtles will hatch in an artificial nest at Cape Canaveral, and be released into the Atlantic at night, when fewer predators are lurking to eat the hatchlings.