Community | June 08, 2010 | 187 comments

BP Tries to Block Photos of Dead Wildlife

source: http://animals.change.org/blog/view/bp_tries_to_block_photos_of_dead_wildlife

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captainplanet71
For animal lovers, one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the Gulf spill is the oil-drenched wildlife washing up on shore. If you're too horrified to look at any photos, you're in luck — BP doesn't want you to see them.

As of Friday morning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s tally of dead animals collected in the Gulf area was 527 birds, 235 sea turtles (six to nine times the average rate), and 30 mammals, including dolphins. Yesterday morning, the spill washed over Queen Bess Island (called “Bird Island” by locals), which is a habitat for Louisiana brown pelicans, the state bird that was once an endangered species. Forty-one of the birds were coated with oil, and that number is expected to rise.

Have you seen the terrible pictures of all this carnage? Neither have I. And neither has anyone else.

Wonder why? The New York Daily News reported on Wednesday that BP has ordered its contractors not to share pictures or otherwise publicize the scores of dead and injured wildlife.

An unnamed BP contractor gave a reporter a very different tour from the one presented to President Obama during his recent visit. Among the “highlights,” if that's what they can be called, was a decomposing dolphin that the worker said had been found filled with oil. The shoreline grass of Queen Bess Island was covered with stricken marine life, some dead and some struggling to breathe. The normally white heads of pelicans were dark with oil.

The worker said BP was insistent it didn't want any photos of the dead animals. "There is a lot of coverup for BP," the worker told the reporter. "They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence."

As extra assurance that most of us will never see photographic or any other evidence of the true extent of the carnage, Louisiana residents said BP quickly whisks off dead and injured wildlife to inaccessible buildings and offshore ships. Out of sight, out of mind ... but forever in locals' memories.

New York Daily News reporters trying to get a closer look at the disaster were escorted from a beach by police who said they were taking orders from BP. Even Louisiana residents have been required to sign non-disclosures.

Really, BP? Did you not get the memo this isn’t a police state? You may be able to control politicians by lining their pockets, but your bucks stop there. This disaster is going to affect all of us, and we have every right to see the extent of the damage.

In an encouraging development, this week Charlie Riedel of the Associated Press was somehow able to bypass BP's myriad roadblocks and snap some appalling photos. They may make us want to shield our eyes, but it's important we don't bury our heads just as BP would love for us to do.
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187 comments // BP Tries to Block Photos of Dead Wildlife

  • EdJoyProductions
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • ploomis
    • +3
      ploomis  
    • Einsam_Data_Old:

      But..but..b...but wait a minute. Are you implying that Google is censoring images? What? I always thought that was against Google's religion.

      Please don't tell me that I am about to get yet another lesson from the Internet about how damned naive I am.

      I learn from the lessons and still they keep coming, every damned week.

    • 1 year ago
  • julesrs007
    • +9
      julesrs007  

    • When more than tar balls are washing ashore on my local beach... they will have to arrest me to prevent me from getting photos/video. This disaster has been a constant cover-up by ALL involved.

      However, as much as I would like to drag Tony Hayward's naked body through the toxic sludge that is destroying LA right now... I believe WE ALL HAVE TO OWN UP TO THIS MANMADE CATASTROPHIC DISASTER.

      Don't get me wrong, the corrupted BP (and related) corporations are total criminals but, WE, the consumers, are ultimately, the cause. BP has just been providing the service to feed our OIL ADDICTION.

      Drilling into the seafloor, not really knowing or understanding what the hell we're doing, is a sign of a desperate society.

      WE have allowed our oceans and coastlines to be destroyed.

      WE have chosen the toxic, dirty fossil fuels over the irreplaceable wildlife and plants.

      WHAT MORE IS IT GOING TO TAKE FOR US TO CARE? WHAT MORE WILL WE HAVE TO LOSE?

      If this is not enough for us to want to change (along with the destruction of mountains for coal)... we do not deserve Earth.

    • 1 year ago
  • Omnomynous
    • +2
      Omnomynous  
    • julesrs007:

      I think many indigenous people would disagree with you about not deserving the earth.
      So would a few conservationists.

      This use of a collective "we" is near insulting....

      Then again for almost (idk, maybe a few that aren't defined as indigenous, and conservationist are deserving) all other intents and purposes you are correct.

    • 1 year ago
  • julesrs007
    • +3
      julesrs007  
    • Omnomynous:

      Indigenous peoples do not usually have the luxury of "choices".

      "WE" certainly does not apply to everyone... just the vast majority of our species.

      Like most addicts, WE do not think there is a problem with our use (ALL fossil fuels).

      WE believe our use is under control.

      WE lie to ourselves and ALLOW others to lie to us to make using OK.

      I believe we should have to see the death and destruction that our addiction has created.

      I have to ask... what are people telling their children about the Gulf Oil Spill? How can ANY EXCUSE be enough to explain what is happening?

      For individuals who are still in denial (except sociopaths) about the severity of our environmental issues, should visit the coasts from LA to FL over the next few months - years (let us hope it ends there).

    • 1 year ago
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
    • +1
      Yvonne_Bashelier  
    • julesrs007:

      Yea, and you notice how America really has no cross country public transportation? I mean here in Egypt we have public transportation every where, trains, buses and it's really cheap. I can buy a train ticket from Cairo to Luxor Egypt which from the North to the South, first class for $20. If America took all the money they burn on oil and put it into public transportation that is affordable, imagine all the benefits.

    • 1 year ago
  • artemis6
  • bluestranger
    • +4
      bluestranger  

    • This is too big for a cover up. Wanna bet that the injured animals are being disposed of and not rehabilitated? What a bunch of corporate schmucks.

    • 1 year ago
  • liveroadkill
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • liveroadkill
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • liveroadkill
  • EthicalVegan
  • irie_ojo
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • lionessgrrl
  • transfire
    • +4
      transfire  

    • You do realize you are being lied to yet again. BP could have stopped that leak days after it started. They still can. But they won't, because collecting the oil and hence $ is more important to them then anything else. Even after paying for clean-up they still come out way ahead. They could care less about environmental impact --they're an oil company after all!

      Listen carefully to all the rhetoric about "stopping the leak" and will realize that all their solutions revolve around recovering the oil. The only time they appeared to try to actually stop the leak was with the top-kill, but they knew that would fail --they were just buying time (and publicity) as they prepared to put on the cap --which is what they tried the first time. See they had to work out how to prevent the freezing, which I hear they fixed by pumping methane down to the valve.

      Unfortunately most people do not have basic physics knowledge, so they do not know how to evaluate what is feasible and what is not. But any honest engineer can tell you there are two simple ways to stop it. 1) you shove a bomb (no it does NOT need to be nuclear) down the hole then blow it up and thus collapse the well tube via the weight of the earth around it. Or 2) you drop a mountain of fill-dirt or cement on top of it. That's it. Basic Physics 1.0.1.

    • 1 year ago
  • Nuevarine
  • lionessgrrl
  • lionessgrrl
  • Buster_Bluth
  • lionessgrrl
  • EmperorThan
  • ploomis
  • Omnomynous
    • 0
      Omnomynous  

    • I'll get you all some pictures when it gets to Panama City Beach, but as of yesterday at about 5:30 p.m. the beach was still beautiful, and I doubt you care to see those pictures of me playing in the surf....

    • 1 year ago
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  
    • Omnomynous:

      I lived in Panama City Beach many, many years ago....some of the most pristine coastline still existed on the drive from Panama City to Pensacola back then...felt like heaven just driving along that undeveloped coastline.

    • 1 year ago
  • Omnomynous
    • 0
      Omnomynous  
    • Incredulous:

      Well I don't live on PCB, but I grew up and worked out there for a long time, and it is truly beautiful (if you avoid looking at all the damn condos).

      I remember back in the mid 80's when I was a child riding leaving the west end of the beach headed to Pensacola, once you left PCB, it was just little towns, sand dunes, and bridges all the way to Pensacola.

      IMHO it was much nicer when all that beach was basically community property, and not the personal possession of elitists.

      And from stories I've been told apparently almost all of PCB, was much like those undeveloped dunes as late as the early 70's...

      The price for "progress" has been steep.

    • 1 year ago
  • liveroadkill
    • +4
      liveroadkill  

    • Man i wish i was down their. I would love to see them try to stop me from taking pictures. can the locals ever take pictures? i was kinda hoping this would destroy their credibility and have them pay for the full extent of the damages.

    • 1 year ago
  • ploomis
  • liveroadkill
    • +1
      liveroadkill  
    • ploomis:

      If i were the locals i would sue BP for the emotional damage of watching the place you grew up in get destroyed because they were lazy on the procedures. I wonder how much each individual person could get.

    • 1 year ago
  • ploomis
    • +2
      ploomis  

    • "The Louisiana locals are really angry about the lying, threats, and bullying they all complain is coming their way from BP and their contractors."

      OK OK, I responded to EdJoy about my being overwhelmed with compassion and crying.

      The above quote brought the tough guy right back into me. I want to saddle up and go down to Louisiana for some physical, roll-around-in-the-oil, confrontation with these BP fools. How in the hell can it be that even the cops (and I pretty much have always been hating them) are enforcing their wishes. WTF.

      I did a long stint in Angola. Having flashbacks now in considering all this..

    • 1 year ago
  • ploomis
  • Incredulous
  • EdJoyProductions
  • eden49
  • jeffissleeping
  • eden49
  • jeffissleeping
  • jeffissleeping
  • bailey78
  • ploomis
  • ploomis
  • Incredulous
  • EdJoyProductions
  • jeffissleeping
    • 0
      jeffissleeping  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      In my year and a half here, I've never had a picture/video posting issue...it seems that today, some can see the pictures and others cannot...what's weirder, is that when I'm logged in under my name, some media things on this page look differently/don't appear than when I log out and come back to the page....
      Apologies to those who can't see them yet, like I said...very weird.

    • 1 year ago
  • EdJoyProductions
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • EdJoyProductions
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • EthicalVegan
  • jeffissleeping
  • EthicalVegan
    • -1
      EthicalVegan  
    • jeffissleeping:

      Oh, wow, seriously? How do I do that? Or... oh, wait, you mean, after I've submitted, copy the link and just send it to you, right? [Don't I sound like a JERK?! Now, if only I could figure out how to visit the Internets...]

    • 1 year ago
  • jeffissleeping
  • EthicalVegan
  • bailey78
  • bailey78
    • +5
      bailey78  

    • BP needs to step up the Game and do a lot more. What gives them the right to say what can be shown ? I say air all this mess 24/7 on T.V. and stream live footage of the Gulf on-line till this mess is cleaned up.

    • 1 year ago
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  
    • bailey78:

      ummm, I think it might be our own nasty government giving them these rights...let's see, there was the infamous Supreme Court decision telling corporations they could buy whatever candidate they want to buy, and media control was purchased, signed, sealed and delivered long before the Supreme Court decision..

      nothing to see here folks, just keep moving.

      Once again, Obama says what we want to hear, but the promised actions just don't seem to follow.

    • 1 year ago
  • bailey78
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  
    • bailey78:

      wish I knew the answer to that one...one thing is certain, we have to start paying attention to what they are doing and stop them before they get it done, not after. I guess that starts with holding our elected officials more responsible, and booting their worthless asses out of office when they haven't done their job. Clearly, it was somebody in government's job to ensure that this tragedy did not happen. We hold them all accountable, not just BP.

    • 1 year ago
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
    • 0
      Yvonne_Bashelier  
    • bailey78:

      They have to keep us quiet and stupid, it works for them great when we dont know whats going on. I believe America is heading for a police state, all you have to do is watch utube and see whats going on around America.

    • 1 year ago
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • bailey78
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +11
      EdJoyProductions  

    • I would like to the see the entire upper echelon of BP management have all of their possessions and their homes covered in oil and then make them live in it. This is all so heartbreakingly sad that I can barely look at these stories any more without crying.

    • 1 year ago
  • ploomis
    • +7
      ploomis  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      I thought it was just me with all the welling up and crying...

      I don't remember ever feeling so helpless, so heartbroken, and so emotional in my life. This overwhelming compassion has revealed to me that I'm not the tough guy I thought I was after all.

    • 1 year ago
  • Omnomynous
    • +7
      Omnomynous  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      You're not the only one upset about this, I actually quit talking to someone (permanently) after she started laughing at someone on TV crying about it...

      I'm about tired of crying about it myself...

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +2
      EdJoyProductions  
    • ploomis:

      Dude, I am a tough broad. I don't get teary over much but this is probably the saddest and preventable thing that I have seen in a long time. The destruction just makes me so sad and at the same time so full of rage at the people responsible. Since I can't beat them all senseless, the tears start welling for so many reasons.

    • 1 year ago
  • EdJoyProductions
  • Buster_Bluth
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +3
      EdJoyProductions  
    • Buster_Bluth:

      Back so soon. I just want you to know that I never ever flag you, but your persona is just unmistakable. Ever think of maybe not being confrontational all the time. Mixing things up a little. Just a suggestion.

    • 1 year ago
  • bailey78
  • EdJoyProductions
  • bailey78
  • Buster_Bluth
  • EdJoyProductions
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +2
      EdJoyProductions  
    • Buster_Bluth:

      Well, that would be fine, except that determining that I do not care about people suffering from natural catastrophes from what I wrote here is not exactly making me think differently. It makes me think that you are reading things into statements that are not there either for the purpose to illicit a negative response or because you are not on the correct meds.

      That being said, I have grown quite fond of you.

    • 1 year ago
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
    • -1
      Yvonne_Bashelier  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      I'll tell you something else, there is a fix to this problem, but if your not a contractor you can forget them listening to your idea. BP put up a website where you can put your ideas to help stop the leak, and they want your idea for free! My husband found a way to stop it, and I've seen ideas on utube of how to stop it, and they havent used this idea. Not that I must have money, but I thought it was incredible that a rich company loosing thousands of barrels of oil a day doesnt want to pay a penny to fix it.

    • 1 year ago
  • Yvonne_Bashelier
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +2
      EdJoyProductions  
    • Yvonne_Bashelier:

      There are quite a few suspicious things about the lack of a quick solution. Insurance? I don't know. But I have heard many suggestions and no solution. My father seems to think liquid nitrogen would freeze the pipe while it could be worked on. I am not a scientist, but I would think that trying anything at this point would be worth a try unless there is a sinister reason for continuance.

    • 1 year ago
  • dragon1984
  • captainplanet71
    • +3
      captainplanet71  
    • Buster_Bluth:

      The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is a man-made, preventable disaster, unlike natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes. We chose this dangerous path and our way of life (oil addiction) is causing environmental destruction on a frightening scale. That is certainly something to be upset about.

      This is a wake up call and many compassionate, intelligent people, like lots of folks on Current, are taking this disaster to heart. Have some respect while we reflect on this disaster. With reflection, we're more likely to learn from this and change our ways.

      Thanks to everyone who's spreading info about this disaster and breaking BP's media blockade!

    • 1 year ago
  • donkeyfly69
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