Protecting Themselves
by digby
The sea creatures are all starting to show up close to shore in the Gulf:
The animals’ presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily get devoured by predators.
“A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable,” said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist.
The nearly two-month-old oil spill has created an environmental catastrophe unparalleled in U.S. history as tens of millions of gallons of have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life.
So where are the pictures?
Day by day, scientists in boats tally up dead birds, sea turtles and other animals, but the toll is surprisingly small given the size of the disaster. The latest figures show that 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals have died — numbers that pale in comparison to what happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, when 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters are believed to have died.
Researchers say there are several reasons for the relatively small death toll: The vast nature of the spill means scientists are able to locate only a small fraction of the dead animals. Many will never be found after sinking to the bottom of the sea or getting scavenged by other marine life. And large numbers of birds are meeting their deaths deep in the Louisiana marshes where they seek refuge from the onslaught of oil.
“That is their understanding of how to protect themselves,” said Doug Zimmer, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This is all good for the wingnuts who care more about their fucking Hummers than they do about wildlife anyway. And for BP it’s perfect: if the fish and the animals can just die quietly in the marshes and sink to the bottom of the ocean it’s much better for their PR strategy.
It’s just too horrifying to bear. I don’t know how those of you with young kids are handling this, but it must be tough. I completely believe president Obama when he says his daughter asks him about the gusher every day. I had a long conversation with a little 10 year old girl the other day and her heart was breaking over this. It clearly had her emotionally overwrought. I know how she feels, but as an old person I’ve learned how to cope with those feelings (plus drinking) and this kid was just out there, hurting.
A few years back the snotty Villager question of the day was “what do we tell the children?” about oral sex during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. It turned out that the kids either already new or didn’t really need any details.
This, I think is different. What are people telling their kids?
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