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By billyaustindillon
Wildlife Casualties
The first casualty from the oil spill found
on the Gulf coast is a single Northern Gannet seabird. The Northern Gannet
feeds by plunge diving for fish and squid. You may be familiar with it because
of its black and white plumage. Most birds stay fairly close to land, and as such
their vulnerability will increase as the spill meanders towards shore.
The bird was found alive but coated in the
oil slick making it’s way ashore along the Louisiana coastline. Images brought
back memories of the Exxon Valdez disaster. This disaster however potentially
dwarves tithe Valdez disaster s caused by a drunken ship captain running off
course and rupturing the oil tanker.
What must be understood is the wetlands of
this region of the United States are the largest of its kind in the world. The
region has a thriving population of fish, birds, turtles and wetland and coast
marine wild life. The potential environmental calamity is mind numbing if the
oil slick is not repelled. Five threatened and endangered species of sea
turtles have been identified in the region. There are also alligators, manatees, dolphins,
sharks, stingrays and whales in the vicinity of the spill.
Sperm whales have been seen swimming in the
waters that have been covered by oil. Studies previously have found dolphins
and whales tend to avoid oil spills, lets hope these sighted sperm whales are
an anomaly. Whales draw one of the strongest reactions by environmentalists and
the public alike when they are put at risk.
Thankfully there have been no ‘confirmed
animal impacts’ yet according to one of the wildlife rescue teams leaders. Dr.
Michael Ziccardi is a veterinarian and director of the ‘oiled wildlife care
network’ currently in Houma, Louisiana overseeing some of the wildlife rescue
teams. He did add in an interview that; ‘That is not going to stay the same. We
are expecting many more (casualties) in the days to come. We hope that number
is not catastrophic. We’re … hoping for the best but planning for the worst.’
Oiled Wildlife Care Network
The Oiled Wildlife Care Network is a California-based
organization and has deployed Dr. Ziccardi to assist with the wildlife response
activities since the oil spill. The network also directs and assists volunteers
to the spill site.
- If you wish to assist call OWCN on
1-866-448-5816. You can also track the clean up and oil spill by visiting the Deepwater
Horizon site or the OWCN blog, - If you find or wish to report an oiled
animal, please call 1-800-557-1401 and leave a message with OWCN. OWCN has said
that messages will be checked hourly.
Dr. Ziccardi has responded to over sixty
Californian oil spills. What he has learnt there is that until wildlife is
washed ashore or found stranded it is not clear just how intensely damaging to
wildlife the oil spill will be.
The Potential Impacts
We know the slick is huge and we know it is
growing by the minute. The question is what hopes do we have of diverting this
massive wildlife disaster?
The crucial factors
- When can the broken undersea be capped,
obviously the sooner the better? - What role will the weather take? Currently
the Gulf is seeing high winds and choppy seas, this makes rescue efforts harder
and moves the slick faster and over a larger area. - Can we contain the oil slick? This is
crucial, the weather works against this also with high seas limiting the
effectiveness of mobile barriers placed to keep the oil offshore and contained. We can have the environmental dangers of chemical dispersants to contend with.
Oil Spill Bad Timing for Wildlife
Of course the fact that the oil spill
happened is bad timing. However it is especially bad given that the oil slick
is heading directly for the Mississippi Flyway. This flyway is a key migratory
corridor said Dr. Ziccardi. He added that ‘There are certain songbirds and
shorebirds that are going through their peak migratory period.’ ‘There are other birds for which this
is a nesting and egg-laying period.’
Sea turtles, which already face natural
predators such as birds for their eggs are now being exposed because this is
right when their nesting cycle begins.
A positive (if you can garner one) from having the large presence
of boats and planes in cleanup operation Dr. Ziccardi said they ‘are a
wonderful deterrent’ to scaring the threatened wildlife away from the spill
zone.
Though the spill may be greater than the
1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska the mortality level for birds along the Gulf
Coast may be smaller. It has been estimated 250,000 seabirds perished in the
Valdez disaster. Dr Ziccardi explained that, ‘We don’t have the same densities
of sea birds in this area as Prince William Sound,’ and ‘But that’s not to say
that if the spill continues and birds are affected, we won’t have sizable
losses
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill mobilizes
wildlife rescue teams; lets just hope it is enough to turn back the untold
damage that awaits the marine wildlife if the slick is not turned back.
billyaustindillon 6 months ago
Test received Sunforged ….
sunforged 6 months ago
test
billyaustindillon 7 months ago
Ixtoc also occurred in the Gulf of Mexico and was much larger, it leaked a record 140 million gallons of oil. however wind and currents managed to contain the damage as it was on the other side of the Gulf and not right near sensitive coastlines. Though massive slicks hit the northern Mexican Gulf coast and Texas covering almost 170 miles (275 kilometers) of U.S. beaches.
This from the Brownsville Herald:
The good news is the Ixtoc experience suggests the Gulf of Mexico has natural properties that help it cope with massive oil spills, scientists say. Warm waters and sunlight helped break down the oil faster than many expected. Weathering reduced much of the oil into tar balls by the time it reached Texas.
Two decades after the Ixtoc disaster, marine biologist Wes Tunnell sank his diving knife into an area where he had spotted a tar patch just after the spill. The blade came out black and tarry but the hardened surface of the patch was under sand, shells and algae that had completely covered it.
“No one else would know that it was anything other than a rock ledge,” said Tunnell of Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas AM University. “I think that the Gulf of Mexico is hugely resilient, or at least it was 30 years ago. We’ve insulted it a lot since then in various ways.”
Storytellersrus 7 months ago
This is very comprehensive. I am sure living near the ocean brings this reality home every day. How did the other Gulf oil spill resolve- the one down in Mexico in 1979? At the time, it was huge. Are they using information from that to predict what might happen with this one?
billyaustindillon 8 months ago
Jay thanks for your comments – the Marine wildlife rescue teams have done a terrific job – they actually d things rather than just talk about tit like the politicians.
jaymelee23 8 months ago
What a well put together hub. You put some serious time into this one. Thanks for sharing your knowlege on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
Trimar7 the more that comes out about this the more unsettling it is and explains why the President has behaved so aggressively towards BP and so late in the peace. It has come out that the administration knocks back BP’s initial containment plans, they stalled at getting equipment there and that they have knocked back other companies and nations help. Now if I was a conspiracy theorist and wanted to push an agenda to get a cap and trading bill through what would I do? Scary isn’t it.
The thing is we will never know the truth and all these ecosystems and animals lives are lost.
trimar7 9 months ago
As a teacher of young children I have been trying to educate them about becoming more aware and knowledgeable of what is happening in the world and trying to impress how much it affects them and their future. The thing that has really disturbed me as of late is that I am hearing that our president turned down help from 12 other countries. Please someone explain this to me. I am appalled.
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
Stacie thanks for your feedback
stacies29 9 months ago
great hub on such a sad situation
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
Robert thank you for your comments and input about the BOP flanges. I did read somewhere that the reason they didn’t was because there is a concern that there is a fracture in the pipe below the sea bed and the pressure would force it lower and be much worse. However it may be the quietness is merely not to get people’s hopes up. If it is a down hole than this would be a worse case scenario. It is bewildering how long it has gone on and that sounds like the worse case. Lets hope that there is something before the relief wells are completed.
Robert Brown 9 months ago
——They just dont get it. Still no mention at all,pro or con,of the flange/bolts on all the news. Some of the bloggers that do are top engineers within the industry.——
The oil leak can be TOTALLY controlled in half a week. Replacing the flange atop the BOP with a riser is absolutely possible,even in that blast. A pre-assembled guide—four 40 ft pcs drill pipe— with a five ft diameter band connecting the top ends, and solidly mounted on the BOP flange below,will steer the new riser perfectly, over the drill pipe stub and down, with 2 tapered pins on the new flange, precisely aligning it for bolting. A manifold with 4 lines to the surface completes it,redundantly accomplishing more than the present cap, only with positively NO leaking at all, and no sea water to “freeze”. After working the giant shear, these tasks,including clamping before unbolting, and trimming projections on the flange,etc. are comparatively simple for the robot operators. Please hurry.
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
Green tea-cher. Thanks for the link to kevin Costner’s solution. It is wonderful that there are people that do such a wonderful job with wildlife rescue. They are amazing really.
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
PaperNotes thanks for your comments – lets hope something is done for their rescue – the damage is going to be severe here is the well still pours out.
green tea-cher 9 months ago
Great Hub billy! It is wonderful to see the concern that exists for the marine life and birds and the great efforts of the people forming the wildlife rescue teams. I am linking to my hub “Kevin Costner’s Oil Spill Solution”.
Thanks for sharing such great information.
PaperNotes 9 months ago
Thank you for the information hub, I hope more will be done to help protect our ocean’s wildlife.
Also, thank you for stopping by my hubs.
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
Magickal thanks for your comments – another example of man being animals worse predator – even when we don’t mean to be.
Magickal 9 months ago
Great article. It is really sad that wildlife is put at risk because of human error. Hopefully things will get better.
billyaustindillon 9 months ago
Leslie thanks for your comments. You must be having a very interesting time in Jerusalem at the moment. Lets hope that things do change soon for the better for the wildlife in the Gulf.
Leslie Jo Barra 9 months ago
You have some strategic methods for coping with the oil spill. The Jeruslem Post reported last week that wildlife rescuers and cleanup crews along the shore where sparse. Part of me wishes I was back in the States so I could effect some change somehow. Great hub, keep up the good work.
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