Kennedy Space Center's Ecological Program conducts research on nesting American alligators and eggs each summer during the reptiles' nesting season. Because alligators are "apex predators," they eat everything in the Kennedy ecosystem and therefore environmental contaminants and other stressors can affect the animals' hatch rates and physiology. The alligators in this nest, including "Luke" and "Leia," were collected June 24 from a nest northwest of the Vehicle Assembly Building in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares boundaries with Kennedy. The babies hatched in captivity between Aug. 21 and 26 and were returned to their nest Aug. 28.
