tagged w/ Dolphins
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Added On June 25, 2010
An army of volunteers readies to help animals as oil approaches Florida's coast.
CNN's Tom Foreman reports.Added On June 25, 2010
An army of volunteers readies to help animals as oil... more
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It is hard to put into words the environmental devastation taking place in the Gulf of Mexico right now. Thousands upon thousands of sea creatures have died from the oil already, and the ultimate death toll could be in the millions. In addition, as BP uses "burn boxes" to burn off some of the oil floating on the surface of the Gulf, thousands more sea creatures are literally being burned alive. The tragedy is unspeakable. Not only that, but scientists are now warning that the massive amounts of methane escaping into the Gulf could potentially create massive underwater dead zones in which nothing can live. Meanwhile, massive amounts of oil are coating American coastlines and beaches. And unfortunately, all of this is just going to get even worse as more oil continues to gush violently into the Gulf of Mexico each day. It is like a really bad dream that we just can't wake up from.It is hard to put into words the environmental devastation taking place in the Gulf of... more
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PART ONE...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/21/oil.spill.okaloosa.county/index.html?hpt=C1
By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN
June 21 2010 4:30pm EDT
Photo: Stephanie Neumann holds a Northern Gannet
Okaloosa Island, Florida - Vacationers were the first to notice the bird fumbling in the water near this popular tourist beach last week. He bobbed and swayed differently than other birds, and didn't react when humans came dangerously close. Once he was ashore, they could see why: a light sheen of oil covered his feathers.
Animal health technician Stephanie Neumann tried to rescue the Northern Gannet, but beach safety officers stopped her. Her coworkers at the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge already had stabilized birds and a sea turtle affected by the Gulf oil disaster, but officials wanted to know: Did she have a contract with BP? Could she - and the bird - wait while they verified her organization's status?
"They're trying to do their job," Neumann said as she crouched over the motionless bird, wrapped in a white sheet and barely hidden from the stares of kids and parents. "They have to make sure protocol is followed."
When brown clumps of tar began to wash up on the snow-white beaches around Destin last week, the mood in this sunny beach community shifted from optimistic denial to furious worry. Local ideas about how to protect the area clashed with plans from BP, state and federal agencies. Community volunteers struggling to cut through protocol cheered a decision by Okaloosa County to defy BP and the feds. They were done waiting. They'd use their own plans.
"This is ridiculous. We'll take the heat. We would do whatever it took to stop the oil," said the county commission chairman, Wayne Harris.
After months of wrangling with agencies responding to the spill, Harris wasn't willing to stake the county's ecology and economy only on boom that captures or absorbs oil. The commission authorized emergency management teams to add skimmers, barges and extra boom, and an air wall they hope will push the oil away. They plan to layer prevention measures in the pass that connects the Gulf to Choctawhatchee Bay, where fresh and salt water mix and dolphins play. Harris said the plan could cost up to $6 million per month, which he hopes will be covered by money from BP.
The county developed its oil plan in the days after the disaster began to unfold, but it was plagued by miscommunications, disagreements and bureaucracy once it left local hands, Harris said.
Communities along the Gulf Coast have made similar complaints. Mayors grilled a BP official about the response during a press conference earlier this month. In Magnolia Springs, Alabama, locals went outside the federal plan and risked incarceration by adding boom and barges to protect Weeks Bay. In Pointe Aux Chenes, Louisiana, Native Americans pitched in to string boom near an island where many of their ancestors are buried.
Harris said some of his county's efforts may work; others may not. "Doing something is better than doing nothing," he said.
On the Okaloosa Island beach, local response to the oiled Gannet was quicker, but the federal response had less red tape to work through. U.S. Fish and Wildlife workers arrived before Neumann's status was verified, so she left their bird in their care.
"Time is essential with these guys," she said. "Every minute counts."
For the rest of Okaloosa County, more boom and barges were starting to appear in the water. The county commission vote was "smart," and sped up the state and federal response, said public safety director Dino Villani, who was quickly invited to an "olive branch" meeting in Mobile. Most of the county's preferred plans are moving forward, Villani said, and they'll continue to adapt as the oil moves throughout their waters.
Harris said the plans would have gone forward even without approval from BP or other government agencies.
"I'm sure they're cussing. I'm sure they're cussing us bad," Harris said. "If we had waited, we'd still be waiting. Why did it take us giving an ultimatum?"
Charles Diorio, a Coast Guard commander in Mobile, said some communities decided to implement their own plans once they saw they didn't top the list of state and federal priorities, if they were on the list at all. Some just wanted to act before the mess - and response agencies' attention - began to move their way.
Now that oil is reaching Florida's shores, resources are shifting there, Diorio said, and there's a plan to meet with Okaloosa commissioners this week.
"Now is the time to make sure these relationships are still working and strong and the lines of communication are open," he said.
CONTINUED...PART ONE...... more
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Bird watchers (especially those who do most of their birding by ear) will particularly enjoy this video: Peter Tyack of Woods Hole talks about a hidden wonder of the sea: underwater sound. Onstage at Mission Blue, he explains the amazing ways whales use sound and song to communicate across hundreds of miles of ocean.Bird watchers (especially those who do most of their birding by ear) will particularly... more
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To see the various graphs, try clicking on this link. However, if it doesn't work, go to: gallup.com , and look for Poll Number 140762
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June 16, 2010
Many Americans Say Gulf Beaches, Wildlife Will Never Recover
Nearly all agree that full recovery will take 10 years or more
by Lydia Saad
PRINCETON, NJ -- From what they have seen of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill rolling onto America's shores, nearly half of Americans (49%) believe that at least some of the affected beaches will never recover. Even more, 59%, believe normal levels for some animal species will never be restored.
Predicted Timeline for Full Recovery of Gulf Shore Beaches, Wildlife (Including Fish and Birds)
More generally, Americans foresee a very long road to recovery for both the U.S. beaches and wildlife affected by the BP oil spill. The vast majority believe it will be a decade or more, if at all, before either aspect of the Gulf environment is back to normal; few think a full recovery will happen within four years.
Separately, Americans broadly agree that the oil spill will negatively affect the U.S. economy and the U.S. consumer. Roughly four in five believe the overall U.S. economy will be hurt, that gas prices will go up, and that food prices will increase.
Possible Economic Effects of Gulf Oil Spill
Women More Pessimistic Than Men About Undoing Oil Damage
The most striking subgroup differences in views about the oil spill's impact are by gender, with women much more pessimistic than men. (Gallup has previously found women to be more concerned than men about environmental matters.)
Sixty percent of women, compared with 37% of men, believe some Gulf beaches will never recover -- a 23 percentage-point gap. Additionally, there is a 13-point gap between men's and women's perceptions of whether the affected wildlife will fully recover.
Predicted Timeline for Recovery of Beaches Predicted Timeline for Recovery of Wildlife
Women are also more likely than men to believe that gas prices will increase (83% vs. 74%), and that the U.S. economy in general will be hurt (88% vs. 78%).
Bottom Line
In his remarks when visiting the Gulf shoreline this week, as well as in his Oval Office address Tuesday night, President Obama has stressed the need for a long-term commitment to the oil spill cleanup. Americans may be getting impatient with BP and the federal government for not doing enough to cap the gushing oil rig and contain the leaked oil, but it appears they are resigned to a lengthy process to restore the beaches and wildlife, with perhaps limited success.
Survey Methods
Results for this USA Today/Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted June 11-13, 2010, with a random sample of 1,014 adults, aged 18 and older, living in the continental U.S., selected using random-digit-dial sampling.
For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones (for respondents with a landline telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell phone-only). Each sample includes a minimum quota of 150 cell phone-only respondents and 850 landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents for gender within region. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.
Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, education, region, and phone lines. Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2009 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in continental U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.___
To see the various graphs, try clicking on this link. However, if it... more
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lnovey
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By the CNN Wire Staff
June 15, 2010 5:40 p.m. EDT
President Obama addresses the nation live Tuesday night at 8 ET with the latest on the BP oil disaster. Watch it live on CNN, CNN.com/Live and the CNN iPhone app.
(CNN) -- Government officials Tuesday increased the estimate of oil flowing into the Gulf to between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels (1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons) per day, up to 50 percent more than previously estimated.
The government's previous estimate, issued last week, was 20,000 to 40,000 barrels per day. The change was "based on updated information and scientific assessments," and was reached by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and Chair of the National Incident Command's Flow Rate Technical Group Marcia McNutt, the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center said.
"The improved estimate is based on more and better data that is now available and that helps increase the scientific confidence in the accuracy of the estimate," it said.
Lawmakers hammered oil companies Tuesday as President Obama toured the Florida coast to reassure Americans that the government had firm command over the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
At Pensacola Naval Air Station, Obama declared war on the massive slick, as though it were an enemy lurking offshore.
"This is an unprecedented environmental disaster," Obama told a crowd of soldiers, Marines and sailors. "This is an assault in our nation's shore, and we're going to fight back with everything we've got."
The tough talk on soft sand preceded Obama's first-ever national address from the Oval Office, slated for Tuesday night. In the symbolically important speech, Obama will lay out a game plan for dealing with the worst oil spill in U.S. history, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told CNN.
Gibbs said Obama will outline containment and cleanup plans and address America's need to reduce dependency on foreign oil and fossil fuels.
Americans, frustrated with the incessant undersea gusher and also what some perceive as a lack of White House leadership, are sure to be listening, especially to what the president has to say regarding claims. The process has become a sore subject for those whose livelihoods have been stung by sheets of oil drifting in the Gulf and washing ashore.
Health threats from the Gulf oil disaster could last for years, and officials lack knowledge on how long chemicals in the spilled oil and dispersants will remain toxic, a health expert told a Senate committee Tuesday.
A Food and Drug Administration official told a Senate committee Tuesday that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico available to consumers in stores and restaurants is safe. "We are confident that Gulf of Mexico seafood that is in the market today is safe to eat," said Mike Taylor, deputy commissioner of the FDA.
Also Tuesday, BP said it suspended the operation to siphon oil from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico after a fire aboard a drill ship Tuesday morning.
Siphoning resumed Tuesday afternoon, BP said.
The fire was likely caused by a lightning strike, and siphoning was suspended as a precaution, BP said. There were no reported injuries.
The spill now dwarfs the 11 million gallons that were dumped into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989 when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground, and oil in varying amounts and consistencies has hit the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
BP has been siphoning oil from a containment cap placed on the ruptured well but had to suspend oil collection Tuesday after a fire aboard the drilling ship Discover Enterprise.
A statement from the company attributed the fire to lightning. It said operations would restart Tuesday afternoon.
Obama is scheduled to meet with top BP officials in a highly anticipated meeting Wednesday. Speedy claims processing will be high on the agenda.
David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, has said a new claims plan would call for an independent third party to handle the process, and a White House spokesman said the administration is confident that it has the legal authority to force BP to set up an escrow account for the purpose of paying damages.
BP announced Tuesday that it accelerated commercial large-loss claims and has approved 337 checks for $16 million to businesses that have filed claims in excess of $5,000. Initial payments began over the weekend and will be completed this week, the British energy giant said.
In Washington, senior Democrats launched a blistering attack on oil companies at a key House subcommittee hearing.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, said that four of the five largest oil firms have produced disaster response plans that discuss how to protect walruses, even though there are no walruses in the Gulf.
These are "cookie-cutter plans" that, in reality, are little more than "just paper exercises," he said.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, blasted the heads of ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and Shell Oil for producing disaster response plans that are "virtually identical."
They all tout "ineffective identical equipment" and often use "the exact same words" in their plans, he said. They have spent "zero time and money" in developing adequate response blueprints, he asserted.
Meanwhile Tuesday, federal authorities announced guidelines to speed up maritime waivers that would allow more foreign ships -- in addition to the 15 already in the Gulf of Mexico -- to assist in oil cleanup efforts.
"Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's response manager.
The Jones Act, which regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters, requires that goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flagged ships that have been constructed in the United States and are American-owned. The law was intended to support the U.S. merchant marine industry but now limits foreign vessels from participating in the oil response.
Allen also announced Tuesday the establishment of three positions for deputy incident commanders, who will help oversee operations from the coast. The three will join a response team that already involves roughly 27,000 people.
CNN's Dana Bash, Anderson Cooper and Ed Henry contributed to this report.
http://www.evworld.com/press/greenpeace_northerngannet_bp.jpgBy the CNN Wire Staff
June 15, 2010 5:40 p.m. EDT
President Obama addresses the... more
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Please go to: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7149086.ece for details on the extreme depth of corruption of the "pro-whaling" industry.
Revealed: Japan’s bribes on whaling http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7149091.ece
FACTS:
Hunting myths
Pro-whaling nations have perpetuated myths to justify their killing:
Whales eat too many fish Some scientists say whales reduce fish stocks, leaving less for humans. Japan has even suggested that whales consume six times the world’s commercial fish catch.
Other researchers say this is nonsense. The seas were teeming with both fish and whales for millennia — until humans came along. The key change was the arrival of steam power, which allowed trawlers to plunder the oceans.
Whaling is humane Whalers say they use explosive harpoons to kill the animals “quickly”, but the International Whaling Commission estimates that death takes an average of 14 minutes if harpooned accurately — and potentially hours if not.
Whales that do not die immediately are supposed to be shot with rifles. However, Greenpeace campaigners who have witnessed such incidents say some creatures are dragged backwards until they drown.
Whaling has a cultural heritage Japan, Norway and Iceland have a long history of small-scale coastal whaling (as did Britain), but this is a far cry from the modern industrialised version. A Greenpeace-commissioned opinion poll in 2006 found that 69% of Japan’s population was against whaling and only 5% ate whale meat.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7149086.ecePlease go to: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7149086.ece for details... more
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What would happen if BP spilled a bunch of coffee on their conference room table? Pretty much the same thing if they spilled a whole bunch of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.What would happen if BP spilled a bunch of coffee on their conference room table?... more
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By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
June 10, 2010 6:18 p.m. EDT
A brown pelican coated in heavy oil tries to take flight on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana.
Some experts see it as a well-meaning flight of fancy. To others, cleaning a bird soaked with oil from the Gulf of Mexico is the only chance it has for survival.
In the case of the brown pelican, removed last year from the endangered species list, it may be the only way to save the entire lot.
"It's like triage on a battlefield. You have to weigh where you can have your best success," said Ginette Hemley, the World Wildlife Fund's senior vice president for conservation strategies and science.
Earlier this week, a German biologist painted a less rosy picture in an interview with the magazine Der Spiegel. Silvia Gaus of the Wattenmeer National Park said it was more humane to euthanize the birds because they will suffer a painful death regardless of whether the oil is scrubbed from their feathers.
"According to serious studies, the middle-term survival rate of oil-soaked birds is under 1 percent," Gaus told the magazine. "We, therefore, oppose cleaning birds."
The statement spotlighted a similar statement in 2002 from the World Wildlife Fund, which said it was reluctant to advise cleaning birds after the Prestige spill off the coast of Spain. In that incident, a sunken tanker dumped about 20 million gallons of oil off the Galician coast.
The fund issued a statement earlier this week saying its 2002 remarks could not fairly be applied to the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Thursday marked Day 52 of the gusher.
"In many cases, WWF believes there is value in trying to clean and rehabilitate wildlife, especially if productive, viable adult animals can recover from exposure to oil," the release said. "But every situation is different, and it is too soon to fully calculate the impact the Gulf spill will have on the long-term viability of populations of many species in the region."
Hemley said it could take up to three years to determine the spill's total impact on wildlife.
According to Wednesday's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service numbers, rescue officials have collected 1,075 birds. Of those, 442 were alive and "visibly oiled." Another 633 were found dead, and 109 of those were visibly oiled.
The report states BP's Deepwater Horizon spill is not responsible for all dead birds.
"How long will the birds survive that have been cleaned and released? We don't know yet," Hemley said, explaining it depends on a variety of factors.
Included are how quickly the bird was saved, the bird's age and size and the length of exposure to the oil, she said.
Lee Hollingsworth, a wildlife adviser with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Wales, said other concerns are the level of saturation and how much oil a bird has ingested.
Seabirds' feathers are weatherproofed by natural oils, stimulated by a gland in their lower back. This is why birds nuzzle their tail feathers when they're preening, Hollingsworth said.
"If that gland is damaged," he said, "then that no longer secretes oil."
Other rescue methods, such as holding the birds in captivity to protect them or moving them to a new habitat, can be dangerous as well, he said. Captivity is stressful, and changing a bird's environment introduces it to new prey and predators, whereas it was accustomed to its food and enemies in its natural habitat.
Many birds are quite specialized, he said, and don't do well in artificial, foreign or zoo-like environs.
The Welsh society joined the World Wildlife Fund in 2002, saying that heavily oiled birds could not be helped.
But on Thursday, Hollingsworth said the 8-year-old statement was specific to the situation in Spain, which happened in chilly November. The Gulf is warm, which could bode well for the birds, he said.
"The majority of [birds affected by the Prestige incident] didn't survive anyway. That, again, is due to the ingestion of oil and weatherproofing," he said.
Hollingsworth said many people cleaning birds are working for charities that don't receive much government funding, and it's important for such groups to prioritize their efforts and target areas where they'll do the most good.
In the Gulf of Mexico, that may mean focusing on brown pelicans. The birds, which are native to the Atlantic Coast and eastern Gulf, spent almost 40 years on the endangered species list until last year
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"The chances of success increase every time we deal with one of these unfortunate situations. ... Hopefully we're getting better at this.
--Ginette Hemley, World Wildlife Fund
When salvaging just a few birds is so vital to the survival of a species, Hollingsworth said, "something has got to be done, and of course it's worth saving the bird."
Despite conflicting studies on the viability of washing birds, there are plenty of success stories. The International Bird Rescue and Research Center, which is working in the Gulf, cites several examples on its website.
After the 2000 Treasure spill off the coast of South Africa, rescuers saved 21,000 African penguins and released about 19,500 birds back into their colonies, according to the center.
The website notes rescuers also saved 32 snowy plovers after the 1999 New Carissa spill off the Oregon coast, 180 king eiders after a 1996 spill near Alaska's Pribilof Islands and 175 waterfowl after California's Santa Clara River spill of 1991.
"It may seem like a small number but it was significant to us, as we knew what those animals endured being covered in very heavy and thick oil," wrote Jay Holcomb, the center's executive director.
Hemley said the wildlife fund would generally "err on the side of recovering birds." After all, she said, it's not costly to rinse the birds and let them rest before scrubbing them with Dawn, the dishwashing liquid whose motto once was, "Takes grease out of your way."
Rescuers are always looking to improve on their methods for saving animals, and they've learned a lot since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill off the coast of Southern California, she said.
"The chances of success increase every time we deal with one of these unfortunate situations," Hemley said. "Hopefully we're getting better at this."By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
June 10, 2010 6:18 p.m. EDT
A brown pelican coated in... more
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In less than a week, the rescue center at Fort Jackson has received more than five times as many oiled birds as it received in the previous six weeks since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill began.
A report Wednesday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that the Louisiana center has reported 415 birds since the BP PLC well blew wild in April. Sixty-six of those had been reported by last Thursday. The number since then is 349, with 61 of them added since Tuesday.
In addition, 14 birds have been brought to the Alabama center, 12 in Florida and one in Mississippi.
Since the start of the spill, bird rescue crews have found 633 dead birds -- about one in six VISIBLY oiled.
A total of 32 sea turtles have been rescued, 28 of them in the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/oiled_birds_arriving_at_rescue.html
NOTE: Thses numbers do not include the number of sea turtles (dolphins, seahorses or other wildlife) found dead due to the oil spill or toxic dispersant.In less than a week, the rescue center at Fort Jackson has received more than five... more
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This news report of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico features a "bird's eye view" of the spill, including footage of the pelican rookery filled with oiled adult birds and a dead dolphin. Nothing like taking a close look at the REAL victims of this disaster!This news report of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico features a... more
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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.For animal lovers, one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the Gulf spill is the... more
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"A BP gas station in Ohio wants you to know you're responsible for small spills made when you leave the pump unattended. What about gigantic spills made when ignoring safety warnings? Oh, they're just happy, ignorable accidents. [Flickr via @BigBoxCar]""A BP gas station in Ohio wants you to know you're responsible for small... more
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(CNN) -- Sam Waterston says he was wrong.
The actor, who serves on the board of an international ocean conservation organization and opposes offshore drilling, nonetheless thought the risks were low.
"While I thought it was terribly important to stop ocean drilling, I was partly -- and I'm ashamed to say this -- I was partly persuaded by the last 15 or 20 years that it could be done safely and without grave environmental damage," he told CNN in a phone interview.
And now? With the oil disaster in the Gulf continuing unabated, "I think this is an enormous wake-up call for all of us, that we never, ever buy that argument again."
Waterston, 69, who traces his interest in marine issues back to his New England childhood, is hoping the public channels frustration with the oil fiasco into action. The actor, who concluded 16 years as District Attorney Jack McCoy on "Law & Order" with the show's final episode last month, will take part in a July 10 "awareness-raising" charitable event for Oceana, the group founded by actor Ted Danson. Waterston says he hopes that interest stays high even after the oil well is capped and the cleanup takes over.
Waterston spoke to CNN about the oil disaster as a "turning point," anger at celebrities and -- yes -- a little "Law & Order." The following is an edited version of the interview.
CNN: What can be done? It's a very frustrating time for everybody.
Sam Waterston: I hear it from people all over the place. They're feeling helpless and don't know how to respond. [With Oceana,] they can weigh in on this with a lot of other voices, and therefore be more likely to have their voices heard in talking to their representatives and the administration.
This should be a turning point in all of our minds about what our course ought to be about energy supply in this country if we want to preserve the oceans as we know them. ... There's no way to escape the fact that these carbon-based fuels are poisoning the ocean upon which we all depend.
CNN: How do you respond to folks who say environmentalism is all well and good, but the oil industry brings in a lot of money -- and we need it for energy?
Waterston: I think one of things that this disaster shows is -- for the jobs and the energy it produces -- when it is misused, or misproduced, it causes terrible economic damage, and terrible damage to people's lives, not to mention what it does to the environment.
CNN: I wrote an article about celebrity involvement recently, and some people responded angrily, accusing celebrities of being dilettantes. How do you respond to that anger?
Waterston: Well, I don't know what to say to that, except that as a citizen it's a privilege to be able to have the power to point at things. If a few people are going to take shots at us for that, I think it's probably well worth it.
CNN: A "Law and Order" question: What feelings are you left with, now that it's been canceled?
Waterston: It just doesn't happen -- shows don't go this long. I had a wonderful ride, and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I keep hearing rumors that it's going to revive itself in some other form, so I don't even know that it's actually finally, finally over with. I'm sorry that [creator] Dick [Wolf] didn't get to break the record, but I think tying the [drama series longevity] record [with "Gunsmoke"] is pretty good, and I'm completely happy with my lot.(CNN) -- Sam Waterston says he was wrong.
The actor, who serves on the board of an... more
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SeaWorld killer whale dies giving birth; calf is stillborn
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 7, 2010 1:17 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- A killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando died Sunday while giving birth, the theme park said. The calf was stillborn.
The father of the calf was Tilikum -- the killer whale involved in death of a trainer in February.
SeaWorld canceled two shows on Sunday, but all shows were expected to resume Monday.
"We are very saddened by this loss," said Chris Dold, vice president of veterinary services for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. "Although we understand that complications with pregnancy can occur here, just as they do in the wild, the loss of any animal affects all of us at SeaWorld."
Taima, a 20-year-old killer whale, died from complications associated with the birthing process, SeaWorld said. Taima had successfully given birth to three calves previously.
"Preliminary indications suggest that her death was caused by a condition in which the placenta is delivered before the fetus, as well as an unusual position of the fetus in the birthing canal," SeaWorld said. "She was not able to deliver the stillborn fetus naturally; SeaWorld's veterinarians attempted to assist, but her complications were too severe."
SeaWorld has had 26 successful births of killer whale calves in captivity, according to Dold, who said the birthing success rate is about 50 percent in the wild and 85 percent in a "zoological situation."
A necropsy has been scheduled to determine the cause of death.
http://tippnews.com/wp-content/uploads/Killer_Whale.jpgSeaWorld killer whale dies giving birth; calf is stillborn
By the CNN Wire Staff... more
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New oil plume evidence uncovered
By John Couwels, CNN
June 7, 2010 1:38 a.m. EDT
St. Petersburg, Florida (CNN) -- As if the pictures of birds, fish and animals killed by floating oil in the Gulf of Mexico is not disturbing enough, scientists now say they have found evidence of another danger lurking underwater.
The University of South Florida recently discovered a second oil plume in the northeastern gulf. The first plume was found by Mississippi universities in early May.
USF has concluded microscopic oil droplets are forming deep water oil plumes. After a weeklong analysis of water samples, USF scientists found more oil in deeper water.
"These hydrocarbons are from depth and not associated with sinking degraded oil but associated with the source of the Deep Horizon well head," said USF Chemical Oceanographer David Hollander.
Through isotopic or microscopic fingerprinting, Hollander and his USF crew were able to show the oil in the plume came from BP's blown out oil well. The surface oil's so-called fingerprint matched the tiny underwater droplet's fingerprint.
"We've taken molecular isotopic approaches which is like a fingerprint on a smoking gun," Hollander said.
BP has not commented on the latest development but in the past denied underwater oil plumes exist.
"The oil is on the surface," said BP's Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward. "There aren't any plumes."
Yet BP's Managing Director Bob Dudley said recently, "We're all absolutely taking these ideas seriously and looking at them."
Scientists on board the university's research vessel Weatherbird II were not able to find the dissolved hydrocarbon or oil by sight. Instead the crew received sensor signatures from the equipment deployed into the water since the plumes appear to be clear.
USF is unsure on the exact size of the plumes.
"There are indications this is fairly wide spread," said the USF oceanographer. "There is probably more than one leg of this plume."
Scientist are concerned what effect the oil, not to mention the dissolvents used to break up the oil, will have on marine life.
Laboratory tests show bacteria has begun eating some elements of the dissolved hydrocarbons. But the effect on fish "is what needs to be understood," said Hollander. "We are in unchartered territory."
Water samples collected by USF were sent to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration labs. NOAA has yet to comment on their conclusions.
NOAA and USF will hold a joint press conference Tuesday morning at the university's S.t Petersburg's campus to release their final findings.New oil plume evidence uncovered
By John Couwels, CNN
June 7, 2010 1:38 a.m. EDT... more
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(Reuters) - Whales and dolphins should get "human rights" to life and liberty because of mounting evidence of their intelligence, a group of conservationists and experts in philosophy, law and ethics said Sunday.
Japan, Norway and Iceland, the main whaling nations, oppose such arguments that would outlaw hunting or even keeping the mammals in marine parks. They have long said there is no real evidence that they are smarter, for instance, than cows or pigs.
Participants at a University of Helsinki conference said ever more studies show the giant marine mammals have human-like self-awareness, an ability to communicate and organize complex societies, making them similar to some great apes.
"We affirm that all cetaceans as persons have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing," they said in a declaration after a two-day meeting led by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).
Thomas White, director of the Center for Ethics and Business at Loyola Marymount University in California who was at the Helsinki talks, said dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror, an ability rare in mammals that humans only acquire at about 18 months of age.
"Whaling is ethically unacceptable," he told Reuters. "They have a sense of self that we used to think that only human beings have."
Hal Whitehead, a biology professor at Dalhousie University in Canada and an expert on deep-water whales, said there was more evidence that whales have human-like culture.
SPERM WHALES
He said that sperm whales have sonars to find fish that are so powerful that they could permanently deafen others nearby if used at full blast. Yet the whales do not use sonars as weapons, showing what Whitehead called a human-like "sense of morality."
"It's like a group of human hunters armed with guns," he told Reuters. "There's a clear sense of how the sonar can be used."
Nations in the International Whaling Commission will debate a proposal to approve limited hunts for 10 years by the main whaling nations at a meeting next month, relaxing a 1986 moratorium imposed after many species came close to extinction.
"We want a shift to putting the individual at the center of conservation," said Nicholas Entrup, of the WDCS. That would mean giving minke whales, relatively plentiful and most often hunted, the same protection as endangered northern right whales.
But one expert biologist, who was not at the conference, said many researchers had wrongly concluded that whales and dolphins were smart because they have big brains.
"There's nothing to separate them from other mammals -- seals, lions or tigers," Paul Manger of Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand, told Reuters. They had evolved big brains largely to keep warm in the chill waters.
Saying whales were not especially bright was not the same as advocating hunts, he said. "We protect fish stocks even though no one argues that they are intelligent," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64M0UC20100523
If anyone else has more information regarding the logical argument of expanding the definition of human/human right to other species who demonstrate human level thought, behavior, and intelligence; then please leave links to any such discourse.(Reuters) - Whales and dolphins should get "human rights" to life and... more
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