Saturday, June 19, 2010
(photo: AP)
Like animals fleeing a forest fire, fish, sea birds and mammals are relocating close to the gulf coastline to avoid ocean waters polluted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Biologists report seeing dolphins and sharks in shallow areas off the Florida coast, thousands of mullets, crabs, rays and small fish near an Alabama pier and numerous oil-stained birds disappearing into Louisiana marshes.
Scientists fear the concentration of sea life near the coast could result in large die-offs, from either oxygen depletion in ocean waters or predators taking advantage of food sources crowded together.
So far, official figures place the death toll from the oil spill at 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals, including possibly a sperm whale. These numbers are considerably lower than fatality levels stemming from the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, when 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters reportedly perished. But experts warn the current statistics may not represent the actual toll being inflicted on the environment, due to carcasses sinking to the bottom of the ocean or being eaten by scavengers.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Creatures in Gulf Fleeing Oil, Gathering Near Shore (by Jay Reeves, John Flesher
and Tamara Lush, Associated Press)
First Dead Whale Found in Gulf Since BP Rig Explosion and Oil Spill (by Bob Warren, New Orleans Times-Picayune)
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