Saturday, May 01, 2010
Brown Pelican (photo: Alan D. Wilson, www.naturespicsonline.com)
An oil spill of the magnitude currently in the Gulf of Mexico, brought about by BP’s recent offshore platform disaster, is never a good thing for a sensitive ecosystem. But the fact that the oil spill—currently dumping 200,000 gallons of crude a day—happened in the spring is only making the potential environmental damage that much more likely and severe.
At this time of year numerous species of fish, birds, and marine mammals are breeding in the Gulf region, and that status could prevent a lot of wildlife from leaving the area despite the dangers of the petroleum.
Julia Kumari Drapkin of Global Post has compiled a list of the ten speicies most threatened by the oil spill. Among the creatures most at risk from the expanding oil slick are
- Bluefin tuna (a popular ingredient of sushi), which are at the beginning of their spawning season
- Sea turtles, particularly the already endangered Kemp’s ridley and the loggerhead turtle
- Brown pelicans, the state bird of Louisiana. They were only removed from the list of endangered species and threatened wildlife in November. Their breeding season has just begun and the oil could disrupt the incubation of their eggs.
- The inshore Shrimp season is due to open in mid-May; the Gulf of Mexico accounts for ¾ of the nation’s commercial shrimp harvest.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
10 Animals Most at Risk from Gulf Oil Spill (by Julia Kumari Drapkin, GlobalPost)
Gulf Coast Oil Spill Threatens to Shut Down Louisiana’s Commercial Fishing Industry (by Ashley Powers, Andrea Chang and P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times)
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