Crude oil flowing from BP’s Deepwater Horizen oil rig explosion has started washing up on Louisiana’s shores.
Last night rough seas pushed oily water over the protective booms standing between the on-coming oil and Louisiana’s coasts. Oil has entered the Mississippi River and is spreading into the river’s offshoots and surrounding wetlands, and toxic chemicals from the oil are leeching into delicate aquatic environments and threatening wildlife. Alabama’s coastline is also threatened, and wildlife with the potential to be affected by the spill include hundreds of species of fish, birds, and mammals including Atlantic bluefin tuna, plankton, sea otters, sperm whales, oysters, menhaden fish, and endangered turtles.
The above paragraph is a summary of the TimesOnline article located here. The article has very good writing and includes a current video of the situation unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. Please click the link for more information.
From YouTube:
Other coastal wildlife at risk: Mussels, crabs, shrimp, fish in nurseries, dolphins, manatees, brown pelicans, terns, gulls. NOLA.com has posted what they claim is a comprehensive list of all of the birds, mammals and and invertabrates under threat from the oil and toxic chemicals from the spill.
View from space. Photo source.
The worst part of this spill is that we’re not sure how much oil is going to escape before we can plug the oil leaks. Everyone ready to do this again?
