Tiniest victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may turn out to be most important

By Bob Marshall, The Times-PicayuneMay 14, 2010, 7:00PM To the watching world the environmental threat that BP’s oil disaster poses to the nature-rich Louisiana coast is captured in images of beautiful birds or furry creatures crippled by thick black goo. But scientists who know these estuaries best are more concerned about a less photogenic community. […]

River declines and wetland losses wiping out woodland birds in Australia

By Bob BealeMay 4, 2010 (PhysOrg.com) — The slow death of one of Australia’s iconic wetlands is causing dramatic upheavals in its bird populations, with species from surrounding farmland moving in to replace many small woodland birds as they lose their habitat, a new study has found. Their loss is adding to the widespread decline […]

What next? After failure, BP mulls gusher options

By HARRY R. WEBER and RAY HENRY, Associated Press WritersSunday, May 9, 2010 (05-09) 17:41 PDT ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) — A day after icy slush clogged the massive box they hoped would contain an out-of-control oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials on Sunday said they may try again — […]

Media helicopters force Gulf birds to abandon nests

By Justin Nobel05/08/2010 Birds in the Gulf of Mexico have a new enemy: the press. Media aircraft have been conducting illegal flights and disturbing birds over Breton National Wildlife Refuge, an Important Bird Area off the east coast of Louisiana where oil from the leaking BP wellhead has been washing ashore. “We’ve done all this […]

Desiccation of Iraq marshes endangers migratory birds

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq, May 6, 2020 (ENS) – To mark World Migratory Bird Day this Sunday, the nongovernmental organization Nature Iraq is joining its BirdLife International partners around the world to celebrate bird migration, and to highlight the difficulties facing some the world’s most threatened species. The Mesopotamian marshes in the region of southern Iraq between […]

Gulf wildlife ‘dead zone’ keeps growing

By Jennifer ViegasFri May 7, 2010 08:40 AM ET Experts who assessed the Exxon Valdez disaster describe how the Gulf oil spill could affect birds, reptiles, shrimp, fish and other wildlife. An over 7,000-square-mile wildlife “dead zone” located in the center of the Gulf of Mexico has grown from being a curiosity to a colossus […]

Oil slick hits Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana

Oil from a massive slick in the Gulf of Mexico has started washing ashore on an island chain off the coast of Louisiana, US officials have confirmed. Pelicans and other birds covered in oil have been found on the uninhabited Chandeleur islands, which are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge. A federal maritime agency […]

‘Pinkish oily substance’ washing into New Harbor Island wetland – Hundreds of dead jellyfish seen – Ocean west of the Mississippi River undefended

By Cain Burdeau,Harry R. Weber, The Associated Press 6/05/2010 3:36 PM NEW ORLEANS – Crews prepared Thursday to lower a 100-tonne box they hoped would cut off most of the crude spewing from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, the urgency of their task underscored by oil that started washing up on delicate […]

Oil lapping ashore on Louisiana island — First confirmed shoreline impact

May 7, 2010 – 2:59AM (AFP) Oil sheen from a massive crude spill in the Gulf of Mexico has started washing ashore on an island off Louisiana, officials said Thursday, confirming a land impact for the first time. “Teams have confirmed oil on Freemason Island,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell told AFP. “It is […]

Drought and ‘systematic degradation’ doom wetlands in New South Wales

By BEN CUBBY, ENVIRONMENT EDITORMay 4, 2010 THE state’s biggest inland bird-breeding sanctuary is nearing collapse due to lack of water, and the bird population is undergoing ”dramatic upheavals” as some species are pushed out, a new report has found. The Macquarie Marshes – a vast, tangled sprawl of creeks and swamps between Nyngan and […]

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