Precisely, they're 4-5, according to the Irish bookmaking website, PaddyPower.com.
The site is accepting wagers on what species will be first to succumb because of the unfolding environmental catastrophe caused by a ruptured British Petroleum oil well.
The Kemp's Ridley turtle, whose habitat is the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern seaboard, will be especially hard-pressed if oil enters the Atlantic and is delivered by the Gulf Stream along the eastern United States.
With those 4-5 odds, a $5 wager will be worth $9 if the turtle is declared extinct by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. A worse bargain for gamblers is bluefin tuna, at odds of 6-4.
Other species listed are the leatherback sea turtle (8-1), brown pelicans (8-1), sperm whales and blue whales (both 16-1), Gulf sturgeon (20-1), Elkhorn coral (20-1) and smalltooth sawfish (20-1).
In a statement announcing this so-called extinction pool, the bookmaker said it hoped the betting would "highlight the environmental catastrophe."
Spokesman Ken Robertson added: "We kind of have a very simple philosophy at Power Paddy-- within reason if there is a very newsworthy event that people are talking about, people should be allowed to back up their opinion with some cash."
The company is also taking bets on whom will replace Tony Hayward as CEO of British Petroleum. Tony Blair is listed at 100-1.
-- Image is of an Atlantic bluefin tuna at the Osaka Aquarium in Japan
Olivia Munn
Marisa Tomei
Rebecca Mader
Melissa Rycroft
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