January 27th, 2011

If you’ve been wondering what it’s like for shrimpers on the Gulf Coast these days, six months after the devastating BP oil spill was stopped, you won’t hear definitive answers.

While recent tests have shown that shrimp from the gulf are safe to eat, Gulf Coast shrimpers live with daily apprehensions. They know the ecosystem they depend upon has been damaged, and soon harvests could be diminished.

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October 27th, 2010

With the elections nearing, fall weather setting in and the holidays soon to follow, that BP oil spill horror is receding in the public’s rear view mirror.

But the U.S. government remains doggedly committed to the clean-up, according to Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft, who updated a handful of reporters today.

Here’s the scoop, by the numbers.

• 11,200 people remain engaged in the oil spill response across the Gulf of Mexico. That’s down a lot compared to the 48,000 who responded at the peak of the disaster, but remains more than those who worked recovery at the peak of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

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September 13th, 2010

Still wondering where all the oil from the BP spill ended up? To the chagrin of those who would prefer to think it magically disappeared, scientists on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico have uncovered a more unsettling answer in the form of a layer of oily sediment on the seafloor, stretching for dozens of miles in all directions from the blowout site.

“I’ve collected literally hundreds of sediment cores from the Gulf of Mexico, including around this area. And I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Samantha Joye, a professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia.

Joye, aboard the Research Vessel Oceanus, is part of a team that left port on Aug. 21 to ascertain what happened to the more than four million barrels of oil that gushed from BP’s uncapped well. She describes seeing layers of oily material, sometimes up to more than two inches thick, covering the bottom of the seafloor. Right below it she finds much more typical seafloor mud in a layer that also includes recently dead shrimp, worms and other invertebrates.

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August 26th, 2010

Women of the Storm, a New Orleans group formed in 2006 to help the city after Hurricane Katrina, has itself been caught in a gale of controversy. Women’s eNews reports the group’s recently launched “Be the One” video campaign featuring such celebrities as Saints quarterback Drew Brees and musicians Dave Matthews and Dr. John, is getting blowback from environmentalists for trying to get the public to sign a petition demanding federal funding for Gulf Coast restoration.

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August 20th, 2010

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution say they have discovered a plume of oil from the BP oil spill deep below the ocean’s surface. The finding comes as other scientists are discovering more evidence of spilled oil underwater, even though the Obama Administration has said the vast majority of oil has been captured, burned or dispersed. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has details:

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August 17th, 2010

The United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced that a majority of oil from the BP spill has been captured or mitigated through the federal response effort. Estimates of the spill are in the tens of thousands of barrels. So, where did all that oil go? VOA’s Rebecca Ward has some clues:

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August 12th, 2010

That gushing BP oil well may finally be capped, but wildlife officials caution against too much optimism stemming from reports saying the worst is behind us and only a quarter of the oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico. An increase in the number of oiled birds and turtles tells a very different story of the state of spill and its aftermath.

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August 2nd, 2010

The EPA released the results of its second phase of texts on oil dispersants today, which show that the dispersant BP has used in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has about the same toxicity as seven other dispersants tested.
The lab results show that BP’s chosen dispersant, Corexit 9500A, when mixed with Louisiana Sweet Crude Oil is “generally no more or less toxic” than mixtures of the oil and other dispersants, according to the EPA.

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July 15th, 2010

Gulf-area biologists and researchers from Cornell University have discovered that birds on previously unaffected Raccoon Island have been newly oiled, apparently because of waves of crude driven in by winds from Hurricane Alex.

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July 14th, 2010

While I’m gathering thoughts about a truly strange, allergic run in with yellow food dye, which the European Union, but not the U.S., is banning in foods this month — I’ve got to first share a spoof by Greenpeace on the BP oil spill.
When it’s so bad you can only cry, it can be therapeutic to laugh.
So get a chuckle over this — if you can.

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July 8th, 2010

You’ve probably encountered those “Don’t Feed the Bears” signs in national parks. Well, it’s true of dolphins also.

NOAA has put out notice that the public should not feed, corral, swim or approach dolphins in the gulf, even if they appear distressed from possible exposure to the oil spill.

But residents concerned about suffering or stranded dolphins should call in about them on the federal government’s wildlife hotline at 866-557-1401.

While they wait for a response team, they can and should:

• Stay with the animal until rescuers arrive, but use caution. Keep a safe distance from the head and tail.

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July 7th, 2010

An unprecedented gathering of marine mammal scientists and researchers, armed with the latest high-tech equipment, set to sea late last week to begin the first step in a multi-year study of the BP oil spill’s impact on whales and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico. As a matter of fact, this month-long mission would not have left port were it not for the fact that another research trip had already been planned for the 244-foot Gordon Gunther.

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