Havana, Cuba - At a nesting area for green sea turtles on a beach in western Cuba, scientists dig for baby sea turtles.

Faced with a host of predators at the water's edge, only a few lucky ones will survive under the best of circumstances.

But yet, Cuba's sea turtles may face another danger -- the massive and growing BP oil spill some 500 miles to the north.


"We're especially worried about the fate of this oil spill and how it might affect the coral reefs, the fish population, and a very large population of nesting green sea turtles," said David Guggenheim, a senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation -- a conservancy group.

A strong ocean flow called the Loop Current is dragging part of the oil slick toward the Florida straits and some scientists believe a portion of the spill could wash up on Cuba's shores.

"This is one of most difficult systems to predict," said Guggenheim. "It's basically a river at sea, influenced by the rotation of the earth, the tides, and the weather."

While marine life would suffer, it's not all that's at stake, livelihoods hang in the balance as well.

At a fishing village about an hour east of Havana, a local fisherman spoke about how the oil would affect his community.

"I've been fishing since I was six years old," said Mario Lopez Gomez. "This, for us, this is very worrisome, because the truth is that we're worried about what we're going to do."

Should oil from the U.S. oil field hit Cuban shores, it would mark an ironic twist in past spill fears. U.S. analysts have previously expressed concerns about a potential Cuban spill making it's way to Florida.

These days we're looking at the exact opposite.