Animals
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Hourglass

Methane: Biologists Find "Dead Zones" Around BP Oil Spill in Gulf

Suzanne Goldenberg
The Guardian
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:25 UTC
dead fish Deepwater Horizon spill
© Sean Gardner/ReutersPoggy, or menhaden, fish lie dead and stuck in oil from the BP spill in Bay Jimmy, Louisiana. Fish are fleeing the area of the Deepwater Horizon spill, biologists say
Methane at 100,000 times normal levels have been creating oxygen-depleted areas devoid of life near BP's Deepwater Horizon spill, according to two independent scientists.

Scientists are confronting growing evidence that BP's ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico is creating oxygen-depleted "dead zones" where fish and other marine life cannot survive.

In two separate research voyages, independent scientists have detected what were described as "astonishingly high" levels of methane, or natural gas, bubbling from the well site, setting off a chain of reactions that suck the oxygen out of the water. In some cases, methane concentrations are 100,000 times normal levels.

Other scientists as well as sport fishermen are reporting unusual movements of fish, shrimp, crab and other marine life, including increased shark sightings closer to the Alabama coast.
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Fish

Thick patch of oil discovered in Barataria Basin dubbed 'The Black Sea'

Paul Murphy
WWLTV
Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:44 UTC

Barataria Basin, Louisanna -- Barataria Basin fisherman are now calling this thick patch of BP oil in Bay Jimmy, "The Black Sea."

The fumes are overwhelming and the sludge is toxic to the fragile marshes between Grand Isle and Lower Lafitte, south of New Orleans.

Tuesday, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents discovered dead fish floating in the oil.
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Bizarro Earth

Millions of birds set to fly into Gulf oil mess

Steve Gorman and Ernest Scheyder
Reuters
Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:33 UTC
Image
© UnknownOil-covered pelicans sit in a pen waiting to be cleaned at a rescue center in Fort Jackson, Louisiana, on June 7, 2010.
'They won't be safe on their fall passage,' says Audubon official

Despite the images of oil-soaked pelicans flooding the media in recent weeks, wildlife experts say the toll on sea birds from BP's Gulf Coast oil spill is smaller than was anticipated, so far.

That is expected to change drastically for the worse.

Scientists warn that as shifting weather and sea conditions conspire with the dynamics of avian life cycles, a tremendous number of birds will soon be put in jeopardy.

In the coming weeks, millions of waterfowl and other birds that flock to the Gulf Coast on their annual fall migration will arrive in the region either to roost for the winter or to make brief stopovers en route farther south.

With toxic crude still gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico and streaks of the slick creeping inexorably farther inland, many more birds and other wildlife that nest, feed and find shelter on shore are likely to become casualties.
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Bizarro Earth

Gut wrenching video: BP Slick Covers Dolphins and Whales

Hurricane Creekkeeper
YouTube
Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:24 UTC
This is without a doubt, the most disturbing video I have ever produced.

I saw at least 100 Dolphins dying or struggling to get out of the oil. It was many miles from any water that was not contaminated. In all likelihood, the Dolphins and Sperm Whale seen in this video are dead by now.

The Dolphins were disoriented. Some already dead and others struggling to keep their heads up high enough to see the fires. The Sperm Whale was covered in oil.

We have to spread this around the world! Who will be accountable for their lives?

All involved in this disaster will be held accountable to a higher power than any on Earth. Man should not destroy the gentle creatures God created.
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Fish

Some 70,000 turtle eggs to be whisked far from oil


Boston Hearld
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:31 UTC
tagged turtle
© APIn this June 10, 2010 file photo, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is lifted back to its temporary tank after being weighed, getting its heartbeat and temperature taken, and getting a shot of antibiotics at the Audubon Nature Institute’s Aquatic C

Pensacola Beach, Florida - An effort to save thousands of sea turtle hatchlings from dying in the oily Gulf of Mexico will begin in the coming weeks in a desperate attempt to keep an entire generation of threatened species from vanishing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will coordinate the plan, which calls for collecting about 70,000 turtle eggs in up to 800 nests buried in the sand across Florida Panhandle and Alabama beaches.

It's never been done on such a massive scale. But doing nothing, experts say, could lead to unprecedented deaths. There are fears the turtles would be coated in oil and poisoned by crude-soaked food.
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Binoculars

White Elephant Caught in Burma "is Omen of Political Change"


The Telegraph
Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:57 UTC
Image
© www.myanmar.govThe announcements of the discoveries of white elephants in 2001 and 2002 in Burma was seen by opposition leaders as bolstering support for their parties
A rare white elephant, historically considered an omen of political change, has been captured in the west of military-ruled Burma, state media reported Tuesday.

The female elephant was captured by officials on Saturday in the coastal town of Maungtaw in Rakhine state, according to news reports in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

She is aged about 38 years old and seven feet four inches tall, the English-language New Light of Myanmar said, although it did not mention where she would be kept.

White elephants are often depicted as snow white, but are in fact grey or reddish-brown in colour, turning light pink when wet. They have fair eyelashes and toenails.

Kings and leaders in Burma, a predominantly Buddhist country, have traditionally treasured white elephants, whose rare appearances in the country are believed to herald political change and good fortune.
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Fish

"Unprecedented" fish kill in Jacksonville, Florida not related to annual cycle: Brain lesions point to toxicity

Jim Sutton
Jacksonville.com
Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:47 UTC
dead fish
© Jon M. Fletcher/The Times-UnionA dead red fish floats belly up in the St. Johns River north of the Buckman Bridge Monday, June 7, 2010. A multitude of dead red fish have been reported for the past two weeks with the cause being unknow at present.
Fish kill in St. Johns isn't related to annual cycle

If you think the month-long fish kill on the St. Johns River is an annual event that just came early this year - think again.

That's the message that two men with close ties to the river want you to know.

The persistent plague of dead fish on the St. Johns that began around Memorial Day isn't caused by a cycle of summer oxygen depletion, insists Jimmy Orth, the executive director of the St. Johns Riverkeeper.

"This kill is unprecedented," he said. He explained that fish kills due to low oxygen levels are typically confined to smaller areas, not as widespread as the problem has become.
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Attention

Kangaroos Being Poisoned by Fluoride in Australia

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© Margaret BurinFluoride from a nearby alumininum smelter is making Portland kangaroos ill.
Hundreds of kangaroos have been euthanized due to acute fluoride poisoning in the Australian state of Victoria, the country's Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has announced.

The poisonings appear to be occurring due to emissions of fluoride from the Alcoa aluminum smelter at Portland and the Austral Bricks factory at Craigieburn, the state's first and second biggest emitters of fluoride dust, respectively. According to Bruce Dawson of the EPA, the toxic chemical is being absorbed by nearby plants that kangaroos and other animals forage on. The animals may also be breathing in the chemical directly.

The levels of fluoride being emitted by Alcoa and Austral are fully legal under Australian law. The smelter emits 120 tons of the dust per year, while the factory emits 66 tons.
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Hourglass

Oil washes onto big Mississippi tourist beach

Matthew Bigg
Reuters
Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:23 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Oil from a BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico washed ashore at one of the largest tourist beaches in Mississippi on Monday, forcing tourists to pack their bags and evacuate the shore.

Sludgy brown oil, light sheen and tar balls arrived at a series of points in small towns in the Gulf state on Sunday, the first time oil has hit Mississippi's mainland. On Monday, it reached Biloxi, a major resort city famous for its casinos.

One day after state and local officials complained vehemently about the slow pace of cleanup efforts, just three people from a private contracting company hired by BP were working on Biloxi's shore, putting tar balls into containers.

Some children on holiday in Biloxi stepped into tar balls before their parents whisked them away from the beach.

"We are leaving today. My child stepped in oil yesterday as we were playing on the beach. Obviously we are cutting our vacation short. This is a complete shame and very sad," said Susan Reed, who came with her family from Texas on vacation to Biloxi.
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Cloud Lightning

Thick oil soils Mississippi shore as storm looms

Leigh Coleman and Guy Faulconbridge
Reuters
Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:03 UTC
oily bird
© AP

Ocean Springs, Mississippi/Toronto- Gluey gobs of thick oil from BP Plc's Gulf of Mexico spill washed ashore in Mississippi for the first time on Sunday as Russia called for a special levy on oil companies to finance a fund to help clean up environmental disasters like this one.

BP and the U.S. Coast Guard kept a close watch on tropical depression Alex as it moved into the southwestern gulf.

Forecasters expect Alex to make landfall again as a hurricane early on Thursday between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano in Mexico, sparing BP's oil collection efforts at its ruptured deep-sea well.
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