Whale Sharks / Gulf Oil Spill

[cdolphin]

Steve,

so sorry about this....

The Associated Press: Threatened whale sharks seen in Gulf oil spill

 

[DeepBlueResort]

Hi

Yes, I am afraid I know about this, there will be much worse news to come as well

 

[Louie]

Cheryl and everyone who provided links and info,

Thanks and keep it up!

Yes indeed, we all do live downstream. Lets work and hope for the best in the very difficult circumstances for marine life, people and livelihoods in the Gulf and beyond.

 

[Nemrod]

There are several film clips and photos taken from aircraft "illegally" flying over the oil spill area showing oil covered whales, dead dolphin pods, oil covered water as far as the eye can see, dead fish schools belly up on the surface.

It is illegal to fly in the "no fly" zone because the powers that be do not want us to know how bad this disaster is. This is the largest oil spill in human history and it is quite possible it is the largest ecological disaster in human history, right here, in the USA.

N

 

[cdolphin]

www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

on Facebook:
Deepwater Horizon Response | Facebook

DATE: July 03, 2010 22:24:41 CST

CLARIFICATION on the Current Threat to Florida Peninsula and Florida Keys from Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill ​

The risk of weathered oil and tar balls from the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill coming to the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys remains low under current ocean and wind conditions. NOAA’s long-term projection model released yesterday focused on the possible long-term shoreline threats and not on current wind and ocean conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.
The model considers conditions that are typical for this time of year to evaluate long-term likelihood of threats to different shorelines. Current conditions, especially given the absence of a significant amount of Deepwater Horizon/BP oil from the loop current, indicate that immediate threats to the Florida Keys, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas remain low.
“This modeling provides a glimpse for planning purposes but does not represent what we're actually seeing on the ground right now,” said Debbie Payton, NOAA oceanographer. “Right now, three things are contributing to a very low probability of oil threatening Florida Peninsula shorelines in the short term: no oil has been observed in the area near the loop current, the northern part of the loop current has 'pinched off' into a clockwise rotating eddy, and the present forecast for winds, currents and oil transport do not indicate any oil moving into the loop current area.”
The Florida Peninsula Command Post (FPCP) continues to aggressively monitor the current footprint of the spill in relation to the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys. The observed outer edge of the spill today is approximately 390 miles from the Dry Tortugas and over 100 miles away from the loop current's present location. The monitoring program includes surface sentry vessels, regular aerial patrols, satellite imagery and other scientific observations.
Should the situation change, the FPCP has developed effective response plans and is prepared to rapidly implement those plans should the need arise.

 

[cdolphin]

In the last few years, I have become ashamed to be an American. I'm sure this is not the place for it, but I am so so sad about all this and the fact that if there is money, all else be damned.

I wonder if I am too cynical or if many others are not paying attention.

My Florida friends are mostly sticking their heads in the sand, too. Do we all feel too powerless?

Leave your cars home one day a week. Turn off unused appliances, unplug TVs when not in use, use compact fluorescents, stop using plastic bottles for your water, your soda. Use fabric grocery bags - not plastic. Plastic is made from petroleum.

Think, people. This is caused by us.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Peace and prayers to all affected.

 

[cdolphin]

Unified Command for the BP Oil Spill | Protecting Wild Dolphins During the Gulf Oil Spill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

727-403-6533 July 8, 2010

Protecting Wild Dolphins During the Gulf Oil Spill​

NOAA has received calls from concerned citizens to help coastal populations of bottlenose dolphins. NOAA is working closely with its state and local partners to assess and respond to distressed dolphins or dolphins found in areas affected by oil from the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill event.
While this event presents an enormous challenge to many aquatic animals across the region, there are steps the public can do to help.
NOAA and its partners ask concerned citizens to follow these rules:

• Report any dead, stranded, or distressed dolphins or other marine mammals to the wildlife hotline at 866-557-1401
• Do not push the animal back out to sea – this delays examination and treatment, and often results in the animal re-stranding itself in worse condition.
• Do not approach, feed, or swim with the animal.
• Stay with the animal until rescuers arrive, but use caution. Keep a safe distance from the head and tail.
• Minimize contact with the animal (use gloves if necessary) and avoid inhaling air the animal has breathed out.
• Keep crowds away and noise levels down to avoid causing further stress to the animal.
• Keep dogs and other pets away from live or dead marine mammals.
• Do not collect any parts from dead marine mammals. This is prohibited under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

“Any attempt to capture, move, lead, or scare groups of dolphins out of an area would do more harm than good,” said Laura Engleby, marine mammal biologist for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “Moving or relocating dolphins could reduce the chance of survival and stress that may place the animals at greater risk of injury or death.”
Corralling or containing wild dolphins in secluded bays and potentially hand feeding them until an area is cleaned is not practical, logistically feasible, safe, or legal. This type of confinement also places dolphins at greater risk during severe weather events. Additionally, hand feeding dolphins may cause long-term dependency on humans for food, causing dolphins to lose their natural hunting and survival skills – they may even continue this behavior after the spill event and after oil is gone.
Trained responders are dispatched to any report of a distressed dolphin to determine if a rescue or intervention is warranted and feasible. Captures of free-swimming dolphins are usually a last resort, and are attempted only if the safety and needs of the dolphin and rescue team can be ensured.
NOAA and partners are conducting aerial and boat-based surveys to document potential changes in dolphin populations. For example, one team is conducting dolphin photo-identification surveys in some of the coastal waters along Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle.
While smaller animals such as birds and some sea turtles are easier to retrieve and transport to rehabilitation facilities, dolphins pose a more significant challenge due to their size, weight, strength, and agility in the water. NOAA and its state and local partners are assessing and responding to distressed dolphins by:

• Responding to all reports of distressed and stranded dolphins and whales, or dolphins reported in oiled areas;
• Conducting photo identification surveys, and;
• Conducting behavioral surveys.

“When the incident first occurred and we realized that the oil would likely reach bays and sounds of the northern Gulf, we quickly launched efforts to document the dolphins inhabiting these areas so we can better understand potential impacts on their populations”, said Lori Schwacke, marine mammal biologist for NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
Teams are also conducting marine mammal behavioral and visual health assessment surveys in high-risk areas that will monitor dolphins for potential signs of distress and provide rapid notification to the wildlife hotline when such animals are detected. Physical and behavioral signs of distress include weight loss, appearance of skin lesions, listing to one side, labored or difficult breathing, not moving when approached, separation of mothers and calves, and general unresponsiveness.
Natural behaviors are sometimes confused with distress behavior. Natural behaviors include resting, loud exhalations at the water surface (which sounds like a chuff) or feeding. For example, dolphins have many strategies to catch fish, such as “strand “or “mud” feeding where the dolphins herd fish into shallow areas to feed. This behavior can seem alarming to watch if people are not familiar with it since the dolphins often work in very shallow water and actually beach themselves as they chase fish onto shore.
Although severely limited in our ability to move dolphins out of their natural habitats in response to the oil spill, NOAA’s Fisheries Service and our partners are doing everything we can to help animals in distress and learn as much as we can about how dolphins respond to and might be affected by an oil spill.
NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Visit us at http://www.noaa.gov or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov

*****************************************************************

Great. So they're studying "how dolphins respond to and might be affected by an oil spill." Take a guess, NOAA.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[Nemrod]

In the last few years, I have become ashamed to be an American. I'm sure this is not the place for it, but I am so so sad about all this and the fact that if there is money, all else be damned.

I wonder if I am too cynical or if many others are not paying attention.

My Florida friends are mostly sticking their heads in the sand, too. Do we all feel too powerless?

Leave your cars home one day a week. Turn off unused appliances, unplug TVs when not in use, use compact fluorescents, stop using plastic bottles for your water, your soda. Use fabric grocery bags - not plastic. Plastic is made from petroleum.

Think, people. This is caused by us.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Peace and prayers to all affected.

I understand your feelings and while I am not ashamed to be an American, I think what you (and I) feel is shame for being a tiny part of this. I don't know what to do except to advocate by calling my representatives and if we all do that, hold their feet to the fire, maybe something will be done about this. I don't think our government is taking this spill serious. There is this pervasive attitude when it comes to the Gulf of Mexico that it is not the "ocean" and I have had people from other areas who do not know the Gulf actually act surprised when they find out there are dolphins, fish, whales, whale sharks and the whole gamut of ocean life in the Gulf--why do they think not? It is no more OK to spill oil in the Gulf than in SoCal and potentially, the Gulf is actually a richer ecosystem, or at least it was and can be again if we treat it as a living ocean ecosystem and not the waste toilet for North America.

N

 

[svnipp]

In the last few years, I have become ashamed to be an American. I'm sure this is not the place for it, but I am so so sad about all this and the fact that if there is money, all else be damned.

I wonder if I am too cynical or if many others are not paying attention.

My Florida friends are mostly sticking their heads in the sand, too. Do we all feel too powerless?

Leave your cars home one day a week. Turn off unused appliances, unplug TVs when not in use, use compact fluorescents, stop using plastic bottles for your water, your soda. Use fabric grocery bags - not plastic. Plastic is made from petroleum.

Think, people. This is caused by us.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Peace and prayers to all affected.

Sorry to hear that you are ashamed of America. I'm not sure how the disaster in the Gulf relates to your negativity towards America considering BP is a British company, not a US company. Unfortunately, we currently have a President and administration that is more interested in assigning blame and playing golf than in actually doing everything necessary to address the situation. I guess that's what we get for electing a man with no executive experience.

I found a lot of the rest of the comments here to be questionable or misleading. I believe that only by the most extreme estimates has the BP disaster surpassed the Ixtoc 1 disaster from the late 1970s. Beyond that, the intentional spill in Kuwait when Saddam Hussein invaded was substantially larger. This is by no means the largest spill or largest ecological disaster, just the one that strikes closest to home.

Right now, let's all hope and pray that BP is able to get the new cap on the well and the relief wells dug successfully. That will put an end to the oil flowing into the Gulf. Seeing as how we are here at the beginning of the hurricane season, maybe mother nature will send us a favor in terms of a Gulf hurricane or two that could do wonders in dispersing this mess. History tells us that the Gulf hurricanes after the Ixtoc 1 spill had a dramatic impact on that spill, and the environment recovered dramatically faster than scientists expected.

Personally, I'm hoping that history does indeed repeat itself in this particular case.

 

[TedwardDietrek]

There are several film clips and photos taken from aircraft "illegally" flying over the oil spill area showing oil covered whales, dead dolphin pods, oil covered water as far as the eye can see, dead fish schools belly up on the surface.

It is illegal to fly in the "no fly" zone because the powers that be do not want us to know how bad this disaster is. This is the largest oil spill in human history and it is quite possible it is the largest ecological disaster in human history, right here, in the USA.

N

Nemrod, just out of curiosity where have you found these videos and photos? I have been trying to find some on youtube but have not had any real success.