Most oil-struck birds, marine life die alone and uncounted
Fort Jackson, Louisiana (AFP) June 10, 2010 – Most oil-struck birds and turtles will die alone and uncounted for at sea or buried in coastal wetlands, amid warnings the true toll from the Gulf of Mexico spill may never be known. “Historically, they estimate that 10 percent of (oiled) birds are found,” said Rebecca Dunne, of Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research. “Others sink or they’re scavenged.” Some 1,075 birds — 633 of which were dead — have been recovered in the 50 days since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig sank spectacularly some 52 miles (84 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana. It took weeks for the massive, undulating slick to reach shore and nearly half of those birds have been found in the past 10 days. Complicating rescue and recovery efforts are the sheer size of the slick and the fact that so much of it remains offshore. Dead birds sink in a matter of days. Oiled turtles and dolphins rarely end up on beaches. Add to that the long-term impact from giant plumes of oil floating deep in the water column and a massive quantity of chemical dispersants that multiply toxicity levels. Most experts agree the chemical dispersants are needed to keep as much oil as possible out of fragile coastal wetlands, but others have expressed concern they could do more harm than damage to marine wildlife. “The problem with that is there’s very little research out there on the effects of oil on the water column and on bottom habitats,” Natural Resources Defense Council marine biologist Lisa Suatoni said in a recent interview. “So while we think it’s the least bad place, we don’t really know.” …
