Animal Autopsies in Gulf Yield a Mystery

Excerpts from an article in the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/science/earth/15necropsy.html?th&emc=th

Studies show that dispersants, which break down oil into tiny droplets and can also break down cell membranes, make oil more toxic for some animals, like baby birds. And the solvents they contain can break down red blood cells, causing hemorrhaging. At least one fresh dolphin carcass found in the Gulf was bleeding from the mouth and blowhole, according to Lori Deangelis, a dolphin tour operator in Perdido Bay.

Another dolphin, its ribs broken, was hit by a boat, a catastrophe that dolphins are normally nimble enough to avoid. The veterinarian, Dr. Connie Chevis, found a tarlike substance in the dolphin’s throat. The substance will be analyzed to see if it is oil, but one theory is that the animal could have been disoriented by oil exposure, which can have a narcotic effect, rendering it incapable of avoiding a boat strike. Ms. Deangelis said the dolphins on her recent tours have been “acting like they’ve had three martinis.”

Despite an obvious suspect, oil, the answer is far from clear. The vast majority of the dead animals that have been found — 1,866 birds, 463 turtles, 59 dolphins and one sperm whale — show no visible signs of oil contamination. Much of the evidence in the turtle cases points, in fact, to shrimping or other commercial fishing, but other suspects include oil fumes, oiled food, the dispersants used to break up the oil or even disease.

The Emotional Impact

BP’s massive and ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not Louisiana’s problem or a Gulf coast problem or America’s problem, says Frank Brigtsen. It’s a world problem, he states firmly. And, the ripple impact is beginning to be felt in every corner of the country. We have to figure out a better way of doing things and how to help each other during times of crisis, he says.



Even though a successful restaurant owner and chef, Brigtsen is unusually candid about the grief he’s feeling these days about the magnitude of destruction inflicted across his beloved southern Louisiana and the Gulf coast region by BP’s pollution of the Gulf, and the widespread unemployment it has caused.

“Once again, we in New Orleans are on a strange adventure we don’t want to be on,” he says. “The BP oil spill has taken parts of our lives away.”

To understand the scale of the human suffering that is today being caused by the BP oil spill, Brigtsen says you’ve got to actually see it.

Brigtsen says that ever since he and his wife drove to Grand Isle, La., to stand on a pier and actually see the oil floating on the water, he’s been having sleepless night, depression and periods of just crying.

The real tragedy, he says, is the human side … a lot of people who cannot go to work and are in need … lives pulled out from under their feet … and a feeling of helplessness.

On a more positive side, Brigtsen talks about the leaders of his industry – the famed New Orleans restaurants – pulling together to during this crisis, as they did during Katrina and other times, to help others by providing food.

Frank Brigtsen and his family own Brigsten’s, a landmark eating place on Dante Street in New Orleans.

From Louisiana Seafood Board News

A Louisiana Hero-Drew Landry

During the hearings held on July 12-13 a crawfisherman named Drew Landry used music to eloquently portray the trials and tribulations of the Gulf region because of the oil spill. Here's the video
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Moratorium impact to Louisianians

Granted, offshore drilling is dangerous. But right now there is no alternative for energy awaiting to be embraced. So face it folks, we need oil for the near term until there is a safer, greener alternative.

That said, the impact of Obama's blanket moratorium is going to have a HUGE impact. No one knows the exact numbers, but here's a guess by Loren Scott, professor emeritus at Louisiana State University.


video courtesy of heritage dot org

Add those 32,000 jobs lost to the thousands of jobs lost in the fishing industry, the ~12,000 jobs lost* by Avondale shutting down and the 1,000 jobs lost due to the cancellation of Orion program by who else: Obama.

That's about 50,000 jobs, counting the jobs lost for indirect support services. In one state.

And I'm being laid off in the 4th quarter. Oh well, I'll just go on unemployment, which was the president's answer to the job losses.

What a mess.


*12,000 jobs include the 5,000 direct and the rest are indirect jobs.

Saving White Pelicans

From a clarionledger.com article about a zoo in Jackson, Ms. helping oiled, handicapped white pelicans:




Cautiously shifting from right to left in opposition to Dave Wetzel's motions, the 20 American white pelicans have not adapted to their temporary home - a large wire holding cage with two kiddie pools that has become their sanctuary since the Gulf Coast oil spill damaged their habitat and forced their removal.

Volunteers rescued the pelicans being rehabilitated and housed at the Jackson Zoo until permanent homes at animal facilities can be found.

Wetzel, the zoo's deputy director, has a degree in zoology fueled by an interest in birds. That's one reason the Jackson Zoo was able to become a bird holding hub.

"We volunteered because it's our state that is going to be affected," he said Tuesday.


Read the full article here

Drilling ban is Louisiana's third calamity | Washington Examiner

Drilling ban is Louisiana's third calamity | Washington Examiner

Jazz Funeral

On July 8th the final external fuel tank manufactured at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East was delivered to NASA. We celebrated the way only New Orleans celebrates: with a Jazz Funeral. Here is a short film put together by Lockheed Martin.

that methane bubble

There has been a rumor going around about a huge methane bubble in the Gulf of Mexico that is going to cause the evacuation of the entire Gulf Coast and create an oil tsunami. Wow, some people have too much time on their hands.

 

Here is a blog that puts this crazy myth to rest:

 

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/07/the-gulf-of-mexico-spill-is-bad-enough-without-turning-it-into-a-disaster-movie/

 

Thanks to Maitri for the link.  (http://vatul.net/blog/)

 

 

 

Day 85 Numbers

 

 From deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

 

By the Numbers to Date (7/13/2010)

:

·         The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; currently, 1,564 are active.
 

·         More than 45,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
 

·         More than 6,800 vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.

·         More than 3.15 million feet of containment boom and 6.34 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 892,000 feet of containment boom and 2.66 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
 

·         More than 31.4 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
 

·         Approximately 1.81 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—1.07 million on the surface and 735,000 sub-sea. Approximately 502,000 gallons are available.
 

·         330 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 10.3 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife. Because calculations on the volume of oil burned can take more than 48 hours, the reported total volume may not reflect the most recent controlled burns. 
 

·         17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
 

·         Approximately 550 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled—approximately 311 miles in Louisiana, 102 miles in Mississippi, 66 miles in Alabama, and 71 miles in Florida. These numbers reflect a daily snapshot of shoreline currently experiencing impacts from oil so that planning and field operations can more quickly respond to new impacts; they do not include cumulative impacts to date, or shoreline that has already been cleared.
 

·         Approximately 83,927 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 66 percent remains open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.
 

·         To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization, the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre, and the European Maritime Safety Agency.
 

 

A little levity

July 10--LAS CRUCES -- It's not unusual for motorists to report a suspicious-looking hitchhiker to the police -- unless the hitchhiker is naked and running into highway traffic with a prosthetic leg on fire.

The 47-year-old Mesilla Park man is recovering at a Texas burn center after being found on the U.S. 70 bridge over Del Rey Boulevard just before 7 p.m. Monday, with "significant" burns to his leg, buttocks, his plastic prosthesis "and what was left of his sock," according to Las Cruces Police Department reports.

In addition to "the burnt remains" of his clothing, an officer also found a 5-inch tube stuffed with wire mesh, which appeared to have been used as a smoking pipe.

The cause of the burns, the man told police, was losing a drinking game for having "only drank a six-pack," according to the police report.

As punishment, his three friends set his jeans and his prosthesis on fire and let the material -- then his flesh -- burn and blacken until he "could not stand the pain of wearing clothes" and stripped down to his shoes, the police report states.

When he couldn't stand the flames any more, he asked for a ride from his friend's home on Butterfield Boulevard to somewhere near a medical clinic, since his friends "didn't want to take him all the way to the hospital because they thought they were going to get arrested," the man told police. His friends got nervous when he complained of his pains, he said, and dropped him off on the highway.

Before police arrived, the man

ended up throwing his cigarettes and wallet into the bed of a truck, whose occupants locked the door and drove off when they saw he was naked. (The motorist later contacted police to return the man's wallet.)

No criminal charges were filed against the men who set him on fire or left him on the highway, and the man told police he didn't once try to stop them.

"If they had lost the bet," the man told police, "he would have done the same to them."

 

Oilspill Website for public comments

Gulf Oil Spill Commission Launches Public Comment Feature on Website, as First Public Meeting Begins
Source: PRNewswire
PRESS RELEASE
Publication date: 2010-07-12

WASHINGTON, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Commission on the BP Oil Spill wants to hear from residents of the Gulf. To help, it has launched a new feature on its official website, which allows members of the public to make comments about how they have been impacted by the spill and offer suggestions about prevention and response.

Those   who want to make their voices heard can do so at www.oilspillcommission.gov. Details about the time and place for the first public meeting can also be found on the site.