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BP oil spill disaster: The end of life as we know it in the Gulf of Mexico

Even if the well that is spewing crude recklessly into the Gulf of Mexico were capped tomorrow, the damage is already done. Hundreds of thousands of animals are going to die. The fishing industry will be devastated for a generation.

It has been a generation since the Exxon Valdez accident poisoned the pristine shores of Prince William Sound in 1989. “A team of scientists at the University of North Carolina found that the effects are lasting far longer than expected.The team estimates some shoreline Arctic habitats may take up to 30 years to recover.”

As the oil slick moves closer to shore, we will begin to see pictures of what the Deepwater Horizon explosion has done to our world. Sludge covered birds will die before our eyes as they gasp for breath under layers of black goo. The corpses of fish, dolphins, whales and other wildlife will line our shores and beaches.

These images will travel throughout the world and become part of our global history. This is what our quest for crude will show us in the days ahead.

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How much does an ecosystem cost?

As the second largest oil reserve in the world continues to spew at 1.68 gallons a day, scientists fear the death of the Gulf of Mexico’s fragile ecosystem and all the lives that depend on it, both human and animal.

No amount of money is enough to replace what it took nature centuries to build; no price tag can be attached to the destruction of the irreplaceable.

Miles of blue water have turned red. Oil soaked birds have surrendered their lives and their nesting grounds. The chain of life is broken. Money cannot fix it.

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"As we talk, a total of more than 65 miles of our shoreline now has been oiled," said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who announced new efforts to keep the spill from spreading.

With oil pushing at least 12 miles into Louisiana's marshes and two major pelican rookeries now coated in crude, Jindal said the state has begun work on chain of berms, reinforced with containment booms, that would skirt the state's coastline.

On Sunday, oil reached an 1,150-acre oyster ground leased by Belle Chasse, La., fisherman Dave Cvitanovich. He said cleanup crews were stringing lines of absorbent boom along the surrounding marshes, but that still left large clumps of rust-colored oil floating over his oyster beds. Mature oysters might eventually filter out the crude and become fit for sale, but this year's crop of spate, or young oysters, will perish.

"Those will die in the oil," Cvitanovich said. "It's inevitable."

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In Barataria Bay, orange oil had made its way a good 6 inches onto the shore, coating grasses and the nests of brown pelicans in mangrove trees. Just six months ago, the birds had been removed from the federal endangered species list.

The pelicans struggled to clean the crude from their bodies, splashing in the water and preening themselves. One stood at the edge of the island with its wings lifted slightly, its head drooping — so encrusted in oil it couldn't fly.

Wildlife officials tried to rescue oil-soaked pelicans Sunday, but they suspended their efforts after spooking the birds. They weren't sure whether they would try again. U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Stacy Shelton said it is sometimes better to leave the animals alone than to disturb their colony.

Pelicans are especially vulnerable to oil. Not only could they eat tainted fish and feed it to their young, but they could die of hypothermia or drowning if they're soaked in oil.

Globs of oil have soaked through containment booms set up in the area.

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America to lose a national treasure: Gulf loop current takes BP oil spill to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Florida Keys

America’s first undersea park may soon suffocate under a tide of toxic oil and chemicals. Florida’s John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo lies directly in the path of the BP oil spill, which is now headed for the loop current in the Gulf of Mexico..

If millions of gallons of unrestrained crude invade the Florida Keys, the delicately balanced coral reefs will not survive the tide of poison. One of America’s great national treasures will be lost in what may be the most tragic event of the BP Gulf oil spill of 2010.

Coral reefs are natures underwater cities. The intricate mountains take millions of years to grow, with living creatures forming layers of life on top of on another. Thousands of species of animals and algae feed, breed, filter and defend their homes in the caves and crevices of the living reef. They rely on the currents to bring them the nutrients that create the thriving communities.

Florida’s John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park has been a popular destination for tourists and scuba divers for decades. The unspoiled marine life was an underwater photographers dream. However, once the oil slick reaches the reefs, all of that will be gone.

Since the Keys have never been hit by a unnatural disaster of this magnitude, scientists can’t predict if life on the reef will recover.

The loss of one of America’s most precious national treasures is difficult to comprehend and no amount of money can replace what will be lost. It took nature millions of years to build the coral reefs. It will only take a matter of minutes for them to begin to die in the current of BP's chemicals and oil.

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The oil slick pouring into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is a potential disaster for the sperm whales that feed on squid off the coast of Florida.

In addition to poisoning of ocean food sources, activity around the disaster site can disrupt the sonar navigation of whales and dolphins.

Sperm whales are the largest living toothed animals on the planet. They also dive the deepest; up to 9,800 feet.

Once hunted to the point of near extinction for the commercial use of their blubber, the giant mammals are still classified as endangered species.

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Who needs terrorists when you have a corrupt & inept regulatory & inspection system?

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we shouldn't have accidents every decade

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Reagan brought us back from the brink, for a bit... after that, it's been a slow fall down hill.

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I forgot you loved the old Soviet Union, preferred the Berlin Wall, and generally liked Jimmy Carter's Misery Index.

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Well, it's a fact, you can credit Reagan for the fall of the Soviet Union, the Berlin wall and turning America back into the great nation it so rightly deserved be. Laugh all you want, but it only shows what a delusional Che and Fidel loving loser you truly are.

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Operative Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

...so much for "together"...this, instead, weakens us...

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Throwing his sneakers over a phone or power line to mark his pathetic, small territory. The fear that drives him is endemic in fragile, easily controlled minds. He sees in only blacks & whites, like the Capitalist apologist lapdog that he is.

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Operative Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

To Niki: “My guess is it won't just be your ugly face you dislike.....Well, it's true......if you had a soul.” ...Raptor

...Remember, remember, the ugliest member...