Oil Spill Day 10578
 

This is a little scary. We could very well see extermination of all these animals. Wonder how many billion that is worth.

Sea Animals Flee BP Oil, Gather Near Shore - Project Economy News Story - WCVB Boston

GULF SHORES, Ala. -- Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again. Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some strange phenomena. Fish and other wildlife seem to be fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast in a trend that some researchers see as a potentially troubling sign. The animals' presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily be devoured by predators. "A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable," said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist. The nearly two-month-old spill has created an environmental catastrophe unparalleled in U.S. history as tens of millions of gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life. Day by day, scientists in boats tally up dead birds, sea turtles and other animals, but the toll is surprisingly small given the size of the disaster. The latest figures show that 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals have died -- numbers that pale in comparison to what happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, when 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters are believed to have died. Researchers say there are several reasons for the relatively small death toll: The vast nature of the spill means scientists are able to locate only a small fraction of the dead animals. Many will never be found after sinking to the bottom of the sea or getting scavenged by other marine life. And large numbers of birds are meeting their deaths deep in the Louisiana marshes where they seek refuge from the onslaught of oil. "That is their understanding of how to protect themselves," said Doug Zimmer, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For nearly four hours Monday, a three-person crew with Greenpeace cruised past delicate islands and mangrove-dotted inlets in Barataria Bay off southern Louisiana. They saw dolphins by the dozen frolicking in the oily sheen and oil-tinged pelicans feeding their young. But they spotted no dead animals. "I think part of the reason why we're not seeing more yet is that the impacts of this crisis are really just beginning," Greenpeace marine biologist John Hocevar said. The counting of dead wildlife in the Gulf is more than an academic exercise; the deaths will help determine how much BP pays in damages. As for the fish, researchers are still trying to determine where exactly they are migrating to understand the full scope of the disaster, and no scientific consensus has emerged about the trend. Mark Robson, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries Management with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said his agency has to find any scientific evidence that fish are being adversely affected off his state's waters. He noted that it is common for fish to flee major changes in their environment, however. In some areas along the coast, researchers believe fish are swimming closer to shore because the water is cleaner and more abundant in oxygen. Farther out in the Gulf, researchers say, the spill is not only tainting the water with oil but also depleting oxygen levels. A similar scenario occurs during "dead zone" periods -- the time during summer months when oxygen becomes so depleted that fish race toward shore in large numbers. Sometimes, so many fish gather close to the shoreline off Mobile that locals rush to the beach with tubs and nets to reap the harvest. But this latest shore migration could prove deadly. First, more oil could eventually wash ashore and overwhelm the fish. They could also become trapped between the slick and the beach, leading to increased competition for oxygen in the water and causing them to die as they run out of air. "Their ability to avoid it may be limited in the long term, especially if in near-shore refuges they're crowding in close to shore, and oil continues to come in. At some point they'll get trapped," said Crowder, expert in marine ecology and fisheries. "It could lead to die-offs." The fish could also fall victim to predators such as sharks and seabirds. Already there have been increased shark sightings in shallow waters along the Gulf Coast. The migration of fish away from the oil spill can be good news for some coastal residents. Tom Sabo has been fishing off Panama City, Fla., for years, and he's never seen the fishing better or the water any clearer than it was last weekend 16 to 20 miles off the coast. His fishing spot was far enough east that it wasn't affected by the pollution or federal restrictions, and it's possible that his huge catch of red snapper, grouper, king mackerel and amberjack was a result of fish fleeing the spill. In Alabama, locals are seeing large schools hanging around piers where fishing has been banned, leading them to believe the fish feel safer now that they are not being disturbed by fishermen. "We pretty much just got tired of catching fish," Sabo said. "It was just inordinately easy, and these were strong fish, nothing that was affected by oil. It's not just me. I had to wait at the cleaning table to clean fish."

Gulf 50Yrs from now!
 

Niger Delta becomes a cautionary tale for U.S.
Region has endured equivalent of Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years

Perhaps no place on earth has been as battered by oil, experts say, leaving residents here astonished at the nonstop attention paid to the gusher half a world away in the Gulf of Mexico. It was only a few weeks ago, they say, that a burst pipe belonging to Royal Dutch Shell in the mangroves was finally shut after flowing for two months: now nothing living moves in a black-and-brown world once teeming with shrimp and crab.

NYT: Niger Delta: Where oil spills are no longer news - The New York Times- msnbc.com

They are saying this is actually the largest oil field ever found in this hemisphere.

It looks like in the big picture BP doesn't see a problem. This well can leak 50,000 barrels a day for a few months and they'll still be able to pull that much oil for years to come.

I can just see the board meetings. Mr. CEO, at worst we'll loose 2%.

-spence

Just to keep it in perspective... the amount of oil that has spilled out of the deep water horizon well from the beginning until today could fuel our economy for a whopping 4 minutes!!

Mother nature will have to do most of the offshore cleanup. There is so much oil in the water down there, it is hard to imagine us cleaning it up with booms and skimmers for years.

The sad part is what happens when the fish and wildlife is wiped out soon?

More prolems for BP
 

when will the oil reach new england? bye bye striper population??

nothing is free in life.

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

BP SHOULD BE paying these people and this company. :smash:

Check out the scope of the link put in a local perspective.
If It Was My Home - Visualizing the BP Oil Spill

the gulf stream according to Cousteau will carry the oil to italy

Nice...Problem solved:biglaugh:

that's our guvmit, make sure to fill out the change of address form in case of a nuclear disaster too.

the problem with BP as i see it
 

based upon what i'm reading and hearing on the news...

BP plans on dragging this out for fifteen years to
keep from having to lay out huge sums of cash all at once

this is being done with the dispersant s to sink the oil
effectively sweeping the dirt under the carpet to appease
the media and the people watching world wide ... of the progress

meanwhile the plankton and sea life will suffer for fifteen years

this is outrageous and unacceptable... in my view because the sea life
ESPECIALLY the breeding of tuna cannot wait that long...

the only other PLACE they breed is in the Mediterranean
and guess where the oil spill will be heading via the gulf stream
because they sunk the oil

you guessed it......the Mediterranean


so what the BP oil spill means is.... the END OF TUNA

now there has been discussion of the effect of over harvesting
for a long time....but when combined with the destruction of the oil spill
it's a one- two punch and it's all over.

that means that this law of 1921 has to be repealed for one
all the world has to combine forces to fight the war of oil spill

and the RIGHT of way that BP has over everyone willing to pitch in has to end immediately..........

if the OBAMA administration doesn't see this for what it really is...
it is TIME for impeachment.... because the JOB is BIGGER than he can HANDLE
...he passed the torch to Biden for christs sake
and he's a baffoon

and all this talk of economic recovery, JOBS or any other subject
to get our minds off the spill is just SONG AND DANCE
BULL S h i t :point: plain and Simple....

The scary part is that nobody really knows.

-spence

biologist speaks
 

Since capping the well a couple weeks ago, "they" are reporting that something like 75% of the spilled oil is gone. GONE WHERE?

"On the cleanup front, 74 percent of the oil that leaked from the well since the drilling rig exploded and sank in April has been collected, has dispersed or has evaporated, according to a government report released Wednesday."

Evaporated...that means air pollution?
Dispersed....out of sight, out of mind?
Collected....the smallest fraction of the spill for all those efforts where skimmed?

I watched a thing on cnn at lunchtime out picking up a sandwich that said this. I don't believe this for one millisecond.

Crude oil isnt alcohol or gasoline
 

but the volatile thinner components of crude that was on the surface YES has evaporated

but the dispersant and oil combo
has been sunk and it's on the bottom as
an orange/ brown jello NASTY pudding that "maybe" some
form of bacteria will gobble up.... that part remains i believe
and only the use of a robotic sub will let us know for sure.

Who are "they"that are spouting this?

Hate to be pessimistic, but I have a feeling it may suddenly re-appear after election day.

BP JUST announced
 

a big discount on GAS !!!!!!!

they will reduce prices by 2 cents....per gallon


well here's my ->.02 cents

take your two cents and SHOVE IT ! :fury:

The WHO I saw was some a woman holding a press conference with a white house logo in the background. :smash:

What Raven said about the "discount" is true. BP is giving their DISTRIBUTORS a 2-3 cent per gallon discount. Doesn't mean it will transfer to your tank. They say some of their station sales across the country are down 10-30%

BOO EFFIN HOOOOOO

They have found all the missing oil. Watch the video there. Very clearly can be seen. Shame.

Oil From the BP Spill Found at Bottom of Gulf - ABC News