Dying, dead marine wildlife paint dark picture of Gulf Coast following oil spill

nmap · 06-03-2010, 06:08

Presented with minimal comments. I suppose this event
will cast a long shadow - but the nature and dimensions of
that shadow are, for now, indeterminate.

Whether the contractor comments represent objective truth
or not is left for you to decide.

LINK

Here's what President Obama didn't see when he visited the Gulf Coast: a dead dolphin rotting in the shore weeds.

"When we found this dolphin it was filled with oil. Oil was just pouring out of it. It was the saddest darn thing to look at," said a BP contract worker who took the Daily News on a surreptitious tour of the wildlife disaster unfolding in Louisiana.

His motive: simple outrage.

"There is a lot of coverup for BP. They specifically informed us that they don't want these pictures of the dead animals. They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence. It's important to me that people know the truth about what's going on here," the contractor said.

"The things I've seen: They just aren't right. All the life out here is just full of oil. I'm going to show you what BP never showed the President."

The day was 85 degrees, the blue sky almost white with sunshine, the air fresh with salt tang.

After checking that he was unobserved, he motored out to Queen Bess barrier island, known to the locals as Bird Island.

The grasses by the shore were littered with tarred marine life, some dead and others struggling under a thick coating of crude.

"When you see some of the things I've seen, it would make you sick," the contractor said. "No living creature should endure that kind of suffering."

Queen Bess Island was the first place where fledglings were born when the beloved, endangered Louisiana brown pelicans were reintroduced in the 1970s. Their population rebounded and was finally declared stabilized in 2002.

Now their future is once again in doubt. In what had been such an important hatchery, hundreds of pelicans - their white heads stained black - stood sentinel. They seemed slow and lethargic.

"Those pelicans are supposed to have white heads. The black is from the oil. Most of them won't survive," the contractor said.

"They keep trying to clean themselves. They try and they try, but they can't do it."

The contractor has been attempting to save birds and turtles.

"I saw a pelican under water with only its wing sticking out," he said. "I grabbed it and lifted it out of the water. It was just covered in oil. It was struggling so hard to survive. We did what we could for it.

"Nature is cruel, but what's happening here is crueler."

The uninhabited barrier islands are surrounded by yellow floating booms, also stained black, that are supposed to keep the oil out. It's not working.

"That grass was green a few weeks ago," the contractor said. "Now look. ... This whole island is destroyed. How do you write a check for something like this?"

He said he recently found five turtles drowning in oil.

"Three turtles were dead. Two were dying and not dead yet. They will be," he said.

As the boat headed back amid the choppy waves, a pod of dolphins showed up to swim with the vessel and guide it to land.

"They know they are in trouble. We are all in trouble," the contractor said.

BP's central role in the disaster cleanup has apparently given the company a lot of latitude in keeping the press away from beaches where the oil is thickest.

On Monday, a Daily News team was escorted away from a public beach on Elmer's Island bycops who said they were taking orders from BP.

BP spokesman Toby Odone denied the company is trying to hide the environmental damage; he noted BP has organized press visits to the spill zone and said BP cannot tell cops what to do.

The contractor for BP said the public needs to see the truth.

"BP is going to say the deaths of these animals wasn't oil-related," he said. "We know the truth. I hope these pictures get to the right people - to someone who can do something."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz0pn5M1L4G

Richard · 06-04-2010, 05:43

When Jimmy Buffett penned "Margaritaville" and sang about "...all those tourists covered in oil...," I don't think this is what he was referring to...

And so it goes...

Richard's $.02

fng13 · 06-04-2010, 06:32

The environmental impact is what really bothers me the most. This oil is going to destory a lot of ecosystems down there while the government is so worried about being in a pissing contest for who's in charge and who should be in trouble.

I'm already sick of hearing about the tragedy that is the effects this will have on jobs/tourism/industry. People are so concerned with the job loss they are missing the point that if you protect the environment down there first, and get that all squared away most of the jobs, being that they are centered around the natural habitat will return.

my .02

steel_eel · 06-04-2010, 07:48

Haven't seen this on CNN/Fox....

Link

Sten · 06-04-2010, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by steel_eel

Haven't seen this on CNN/Fox....

Link

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4225730/m...tation-in-gulf (3 June)

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes...iref=allsearch (added today)

rdret1 · 06-04-2010, 21:09

The part that I cannot understand are statements made by some media outlets saying BP officials are denying them access to the area. Not just the rig but the entire coastal area where oil and animals are washing up. Under whose authority and what laws are they using to prevent media coverage of the area?

nmap · 06-04-2010, 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdret1

The part that I cannot understand are statements made by some media outlets saying BP officials are denying them access to the area. Not just the rig but the entire coastal area where oil and animals are washing up. Under whose authority and what laws are they using to prevent media coverage of the area?

It appears that BP has considerable influence. More HERE

The salient paragraphs appear to be here:

Hundreds of media outlets are demanding access to a highly mutable, complex situation, and local, state and federal officials say they are working together -- under the majestic heading of Deepwater Horizon Unified Command -- to streamline the responses to both reporters and the public.

"With regards to media, we follow an incident command system, a tried-and-true way of responding to crises," said a spokesman for BP from the Unified Command's headquarters in Robert, La. "You have public information officers and you have a joint information center that includes the responsible party, BP, as well as government agencies who have involvement and oversight for this spill, the Coast Guard being the federal on-scene coordinator. We have state people, NOAA, representatives from Transocean [the company that owned the rig that created the spill]. We've had MMS. What we do is use information that comes in through our operations and create, if you will, the message to share."

That message, right now, is that the authorities want to provide access to the story while maintaining the proper safety parameters for both cleanup workers and the environment itself. But there might be more obstacles down the road if the situation intensifies, according to Chip Babcock, a trial lawyer specializing in media and First Amendment cases at the Houston legal firm Jackson Walker, which brought suit against FEMA when it blocked journalists from covering the removal of dead bodies in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina.

rdret1 · 06-06-2010, 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmap

It appears that BP has considerable influence. More HERE

The salient paragraphs appear to be here:

Hundreds of media outlets are demanding access to a highly mutable, complex situation, and local, state and federal officials say they are working together -- under the majestic heading of Deepwater Horizon Unified Command -- to streamline the responses to both reporters and the public.

"With regards to media, we follow an incident command system, a tried-and-true way of responding to crises," said a spokesman for BP from the Unified Command's headquarters in Robert, La. "You have public information officers and you have a joint information center that includes the responsible party, BP, as well as government agencies who have involvement and oversight for this spill, the Coast Guard being the federal on-scene coordinator. We have state people, NOAA, representatives from Transocean [the company that owned the rig that created the spill]. We've had MMS. What we do is use information that comes in through our operations and create, if you will, the message to share."

That message, right now, is that the authorities want to provide access to the story while maintaining the proper safety parameters for both cleanup workers and the environment itself. But there might be more obstacles down the road if the situation intensifies, according to Chip Babcock, a trial lawyer specializing in media and First Amendment cases at the Houston legal firm Jackson Walker, which brought suit against FEMA when it blocked journalists from covering the removal of dead bodies in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina.

I am familiar with ICS as an LEO, but the way they are operating here just seems like it will feed the conspiracy theorists and claims of governmental coverup and complicity. When people who live in the area, and make their living catching and raising various seafood products, as well as tourist related businesses, start placing economic impact claims, it could be said BP was attempting to conceal a great deal of the impact to mitigate the amount of those claims.

nmap · 06-06-2010, 18:32

Although I haven't got a clue about ICS, I agree with your conclusions.

I don't know how much raw fact the public should get - I am unsure how well they would use it. And yet, transparency seems like the best way to avoid suspicion.

JJ_BPK · 06-07-2010, 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmap

I don't know how much raw fact the public should get - I am unsure how well they would use it. And yet, transparency seems like the best way to avoid suspicion.

It's not so much "how much" as "who doles it out and why".

Here in the Keys MSM is salivating all over themselves trying to be the 1st to show "TOTAL DESTRUCTION".

They don't give a dam what is or is not being done to mitigated the oil, just as long as they can claim 1st dibs on the news lead and get circulation.

It's starting to cause damage,,,

The summer tourista season is starting and we are getting mass cancellations because they are told by MSM daily that the disaster is eminent and anyone caught in the filthy brown serf will died of over exposure,, To cameras and interviewers..

Just the Facts, Mam:

our predominate summer winds from the SE will push the surface oil back into the Golf
W personalty designed the faulty pipes so it would embarrass ZERO
if oil gets to the Florida straights it will be pushed by the Golf Stream and travel right by us to Ireland, with a short stop in Newfoundland.
North Korea used a stealth nuclei submarine to torpedo the oil well
churning seas cause oxidation and ionizion, breaking down the oil, bring on the hurricanes
Oprah Winfrey is going to donate 5000 copies of her latest book club find to the 1st Tourista who gets oil'd
BP purposely made cheap oil rigs so they can spend 10 million a day cleaning it up with ZERO profit and watch their stock do a GM hat trick.
Hugo Chavez is making 150 million ever day this well leaks
cows contribute more oil (lard) to American garbage dumps in one year than the well leak
the tar balls found on Pensacola beach are from the wreck of an 1837 British whaling ship.

OK, case a beer to who ever picks out the lies...

nmap · 06-07-2010, 19:46

Whether the following is fact or otherwise, I leave for others to decide.

Sen. Nelson, of Florida, appeared on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell. The video is HERE

There is a brief commercial, and after about 2 minutes, Sen Nelson indicates that the casing may have failed under the seabed. This, in turn, may suggest that the flow cannot be stopped by relief wells.

Total video length: 6:46

Richard · 06-10-2010, 17:11

Just how deep is the BP problem...

http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/info...n-trench-0249/

Richard

nmap · 06-13-2010, 10:29

I came across a fairly detailed item that discusses the situation in the gulf. Thought detailed and referenced, it is highly readable. Not good news.

LINK

6.8SPC_DUMP · 06-13-2010, 14:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmap

Sen Nelson indicates that the casing may have failed under the seabed. This, in turn, may suggest that the flow cannot be stopped by relief wells.

I don't think Sen Nelson was saying anything against relief wells. It just means BP has to "get the plug down low enough below where the pipe [is] breached". So if the pipe is broken 1000 ft. down they would have to go deeper. I wish the obama admin had demanded 3 relief wells started at once instead of 2.

BP's Live feeds from remotely operated vehicles (ROV)

Skandi ROV1 used to show the leak from well above the pipe, but once they cut around the crimped pipe to put the oil cap on, the flow increased visibly and that footage is no longer shown.

If the majority of the oil isn't escaping from the pipe it may be a good thing.

greenberetTFS · 06-13-2010, 14:52

By now you know I'm right near the gulf coast ,and I can tell you in all honesty that the people here are very scared,very scared................

BP claims that NO claims have been denied,what they haven't said is most claims haven't been evaluated yet! They have given partial payment like 5K to an oyster fisherman who has lost 33K so far.......

There are hundreds more,this has become a serious issue down here and BP isn't keeping up with their commitment.....................

Big Teddy