Gulf's dolphins pay heavy price for Deepwater oil spill

New studies show impact of BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster on dolphins and other marine wildlife may be far worse than feared

guardian.co.uk, Peter Beaumont,  Saturday 31 March 2012

A study of bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, showed that
many  of the marine mammals were suffering from lung and liver disease.
Photograph: Alamy

A new study of dolphins living close to the site of North America's worst ever oil spill – the BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe two years ago – has established serious health problems afflicting the marine mammals.

The report, commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], found that many of the 32 dolphins studied were underweight, anaemic and suffering from lung and liver disease, while nearly half had low levels of a hormone that helps the mammals deal with stress as well as regulating their metabolism and immune systems.

More than 200m gallons of crude oil flowed from the well after a series of explosions on 20 April 2010, which killed 11 workers. The spill contaminated the Gulf of Mexico and its coastline in what President Barack Obama called America's worst environmental disaster.

The research follows the publication of several scientific studies into insect populations on the nearby Gulf coastline and into the health of deepwater coral populations, which all suggest that the environmental impact of the five-month long spill may have been far worse than previously appreciated.

Another study confirmed that zooplankton – the microscopic organisms at the bottom of the ocean food chain – had also been contaminated with oil. Indeed, photographs issued last month of wetland coastal areas show continued contamination, with some areas still devoid of vegetation.

The study of the dolphins in Barataria Bay, off the coast of Louisiana, followed two years in which the number of dead dolphins found stranded on the coast close to the spill had dramatically increased. Although all but one of the 32 dolphins were still alive when the study ended, lead researcher Lori Schwacke said survival prospects for many were grim, adding that the hormone deficiency – while not definitively linked to the oil spill – was "consistent with oil exposure to other mammals".

Schwacke told a Colorado based-publication last week: "This was truly an unprecedented event – there was little existing data that would indicate what effects might be seen specifically in dolphins – or other cetaceans – exposed to oil for a prolonged period of time."

The NOAA study has been reported at the same time as two other studies suggesting that the long-term environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill may have been far more profound than previously thought.

A study of deep ocean corals seven miles from the spill source jointly funded by the NOAA and BP has found dead and dying corals coated "in brown gunk". Deepwater corals are not usually affected in oil spills, but the depth and temperatures involved in the spill appear to have been responsible for creating plumes of oil particles deep under the ocean surface, which are blamed for the unprecedented damage.

Charles Fisher, one of the scientists who jointly described the impact as unprecedented, said he believed the colony had been contaminated by a plume from the ruptured well which would have affected other organisms. "The corals are long-living and don't move. That is why we were able to identify the damage but you would have expected it to have had an impact on other larger animals that were exposed to it."

Chemical analysis of oil found on the dying coral showed that it came from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The latest surveys of the damage to the marine environment come amid continued legal wrangling between the US and BP over the bill for the clean-up. BP said the US government was withholding evidence that would show the oil spill from the well in the Gulf of Mexico was smaller than claimed. Last week BP, which has set aside $37bn (£23bn) to pay for costs associated with the disaster, went to court in Louisiana to demand access to thousands of documents that it says the Obama administration is suppressing.

The US government is still pursuing a case against BP despite a deal the company reached at the beginning of March with the largest group of private claimants. That $7.8bn deal, however, does not address "significant damages" to the environment after the spill for which BP has not admitted liability. And it has not only been the immediate marine environment that has been affected. A study of insect populations in the coastal marshes affected by the catastrophe has also identified significant impact.

Linda Hooper-Bui of Louisiana State University found that some kinds of insect and spider were far less numerous than before. "Every single time we go out there, the Pollyanna part of me thinks, 'Now we're going to measure recovery'," she said. "Then I get out there and say: 'Whaaat?'"

She had expected that one group of arthropods might be hit hard while others recovered, but her work, still incomplete, shows a large downturn among many kinds. "We never thought it would be this big, this widespread," she said.

For its part BP has claimed in a recent statement that it has worked hard to fulfil its responsibility to clean up after the spill. "From the beginning, BP stepped up to meet our obligations to the communities in the Gulf Coast region, and we've worked hard to deliver on that commitment for nearly two years," BP chief executive Bob Dudley declared recently.

Source of North Sea gas leak discovered

Deutsche Welle, 29 March 2012

French energy company Total has said it has found the source of a gas leak at a platform off the coast of Scotland, but that actually stopping the flow of gas could take up to six months.

French energy company Total has identified the source of a gas leak in the North Sea at its Elgin platform off the coast of Scotland, the company said Thursday, but it has not yet figured out a way to stop the leak.

A Total spokeswoman in Aberdeen, Scotland said the leak is from another well that had been plugged a year ago, as well as from a rock formation about 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) below the sea. The Elgin gas platform is in water less than 100 meters deep, indicating the leak is far underground.

The company said it had sent fire-fighting ships to the scene of the leak in case of an explosion. A flare was left burning less than 100 meters from the leakage site to remove any excess gas around the platform, posing the threat of an explosion. However Total said favorable wind conditions made that threat unlikely, and that the flare should burn out on its own in a few days.

Finding the source of the leak is crucial to repairing it, engineers say, but Total has not yet developed a strategy to stop the flow of gas. The company said Tuesday this could take six months.

The leak started on Sunday and forced the company to evacuate all the 238 employees working on the platform.

Both Total and British authorities have said they expect the environmental damage from the leak to be "minimal," but experts in environmental pollution say much of the mix of gases could be either flammable or poisonous, meaning approaching the site could be difficult.

The leak has caused Total's shares to drop about 9 percent in value over the five days since the leak materialized.

acb/msh (AFP, Reuters)

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BP oil spill seriously harmed deep-sea corals, scientists warn

Evidence 'compelling' that explosion at Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in 2010 badly damaged colonies in the Gulf of Mexico

guardian.co.uk, Press Association, Monday 26 March 2012

Scientists use the robot-armed submersible Alvin to find evidence of coral
damage by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Photograph: Chuck Fisher
Of Penn State Unive/PA

Deep sea corals appear to have been seriously harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to scientists.

A survey of one site near the well in the Gulf of Mexico uncovered "compelling evidence" of pollution damage. Coral communities more than 1,220 metres (4,000ft) below the surface of the ocean appeared stressed and discoloured.

Tests showed that oil from the site bore Deepwater Horizon's chemical "fingerprint".

Determining the impact of oil spills at the bottom of the ocean can be difficult because oil seeps naturally from cracks in sea floor.

The explosion, in April 2010, poured an estimated 405m litres (160m gallons) of oil into the Gulf, causing a major environmental disaster.

Scientists looked at 11 deep-water coral sites three to four months after the well head was capped.

Healthy coral was found at all locations more than 12 miles from the Macondo oil prospecting site, where the blowout occurred. But at one site, seven miles south-west of the well, coral colonies presented "widespread signs of stress", including bleaching and tissue loss. Almost half of the 43 corals observed at that site showed evidence of impact.

The US scientists used an automated submersible, Sentry, and a manned robotic-armed vehicle, Alvin, to obtain images and samples at a depth of more than 1,300 metres. Their findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Charles Fisher, from Pennsylvania State University, took part in the initial dive, by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which identified the site.

He said: "We discovered the site during the last dive of the three-week cruise.

"As soon as the ROV got close enough to the community for the corals to come into clear view, it was clear to me that something was wrong at this site. I think it was too much white and brown, and not enough colour on the corals, and brittle stars.

"Once we were close enough to zoom in on a few colonies, there was no doubt that this was something I had not seen anywhere else in the Gulf: an abundance of stressed corals, showing clear signs of a recent impact. This is exactly what we had been on the lookout for during all dives, but hoping not to see anywhere."

A second, more detailed look, including six dives by Alvin, confirmed the findings.

An advanced "fingerprinting" technique called comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography was used to determine the source of the oil.

The scientists wrote: "The presence of recently damaged and deceased corals beneath the path of a previously documented plume emanating from the Macondo well provides compelling evidence that the oil impacted deep-water ecosystems."

Japan tsunami 'ghost ship' drifting to Canada

BBC News, 24 March 2012

Officials are monitoring the empty vessel in case it becomes
an obstruction to other shipping

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A Japanese fishing vessel swept away by the March 2011 tsunami has been spotted adrift off the west coast of Canada.

An aircraft patrolling the seas off British Columbia saw the 15m (50ft) vessel seen floating 275km (170 miles) from the Haida Gwaii islands on Friday.

It is believed to be the first large item from the millions of tonnes of tsunami debris to cross the Pacific.

No-one is believed to be on board the ship, registered in Hokkaido, Japan. 

Canada's transport ministry is monitoring the vessel for marine pollution and to see if it becomes an obstruction.

The tsunami last March generated more than 25 million tonnes of debris, say researchers atthe University of Hawaii. Between four and eight million tonnes were washed into the ocean, with one to two million tonnes still floating on the surface.

The main mass of the debris is not expected to make landfall in North America until March 2014.

Maria Cantwell, US senator for Washington state, said the boat was expected to drift slowly south.

"On its current trajectory and speed, the vessel wouldn't make landfall for approximately 50 days," Sen Cantwell said in a statement.

Isle of Wight Council to invest in tidal power

BBC News, 17 March 2012 

The Isle of Wight Council wants to create a multi-million pound tidal energy facility off its coast to supply the island with electricity.

The wave farm would be installed on the seabed off
St Catherine's Point 

The authority has already pledged £1m towards creating the Solent Ocean Energy Centre off St Catherine's Point on the south of the island.

The £1m has been matched by private sector investment, which will fund phase one of the scheme, to get the licences and consents for the site and seabed.

Phase two, to build a test bed and demonstration site, is expected to cost in the region of £21m, but two applications for government Regional Growth Funding in 2011 have already been turned down.

The success of the project now hinges on private sector investment.

Revenue and jobs

John Metcalfe, deputy director of economy and tourism at the site, said: "We have already got an agreement in principal with between 10 and 12 companies interested in the project. We've got companies committed from Canada, Finland as well as the UK."

The council has been working with the University of Southampton to gauge the potential of the project and it hopes, by 2014, private sector companies will begin basing their own tidal energy equipment at the site, generating revenue for the authority and jobs for islanders.

Stuart Love, the council's director of economy and environment, said: "We have been working very closely with Southampton University to demonstrate that there is the potential off our coast, not only to generate enough power for the island and more, but to create 700 jobs in the Solent region and up to 5,000 nationally so that is a significant impact on our economy.

"One of our key focuses as a local authority is trying to do what we can to boost the island's economy.

"We are proposing that we put money into this on the basis that in the long term that money will get paid back and once we have created the right environment the private sector will come in and will spend their money.

"The potential not just in terms of energy generation and sustainability for the island, but the number of jobs this will create and the impact for the UK's economy is massive."

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)  - New !    

Dolphins rescued from Brazil beach – video

guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 March 2012 

Beachgoers at Arraial do Cabo beach in Brazil rush to the rescue of 30 dolphins on Monday 5 March after they were washed ashore carried by a strong current and were unable to move back into deeper waters. Dozens of people quickly dragged the dolphins away from the shore, returning all to the ocean safely

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“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

( .. The whales beached themselves because the magnetics of the earth shifted so greatly that their navigational system [the magnetite in their biology, which is their migration compass] steered them right into the land. The land didn't move; the magnetics did. Therefore, you might say their internal inherited migration map was flawed. The reason it's not happening now is because the calves, the generation beyond the one that beached themselves, figured it out and rewrote the maps. Nature [Gaia] does this. So the next generation didn't repeat it. Instead, it realigned itself to the migratory lay lines and now whales don't beach themselves nearly as often.


The magnetics of the planet continue to shift and the birds are unaware. Like the whales, many of the birds have migrated themselves right into a high place in the atmosphere, which pummeled them to death by freezing rain and hail. Then they fall from the sky. It's the weather cycle. Will they continue to do this? Some will, for awhile, and then they will figure it out and recalibrate. That's what nature does. ..)

Japan ends whaling season short of quota

BBC News, 9 March 2012

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Japan's fleet sails south to the Antarctic
 in the autumn each year, returning
 the following spring 

Japan has ended its whaling season with less than a third of its annual target, said the country's Fisheries Agency.

The whaling ships headed home from the Antarctic Ocean this week with 266 minke whales and one fin whale, said the agency on Friday.

This is far short of the quota of about 900 set when they began the hunt in December 2011.

Japan's fleet sails south to the Antarctic in the autumn each year, returning the following spring.

There has been a ban on commercial whaling for 25 years, but Japan catches about 1,000 whales each year in what it says is a scientific research programme.

Critics say it is commercial whaling in another guise.

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd which follows the Japanese fleet south every year in a bid to disrupt its hunt announced on its website on Thursday that the whalers had left the Southern Ocean.

The Legalities of Whaling

• Objection - A country formally objects to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium, declaring itself exempt. Example: Norway
• Scientific - A nation issues unilateral "scientific permits"; any IWC member can do this. Example: Japan
• Indigenous (aka Aboriginal subsistence) - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food. Example: Alaskan Inupiat
• Japan: Back in the game
• Guide to the Great Whales

There have been several clashes between the activists and whalers in the past months.

In January, three activists said they suffered cuts and bruises after clashing with a Japanese ship, the Yushin Maru No 2, about 300 miles north of Mawson Peninsula off the coast of Antarctica.

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which sponsors Japan's whaling activities, said the activists were trying to ''sabotage'' the Yushin Maru, throwing ropes with hooks attached and also hurling glass bottles of paint.

The vessel was one of the security ships escorting the whaling fleet.

The week before the incident, Japan handed three anti-whaling activists who had boarded a whaling support ship back to Australian authorities.

"The catch was smaller than planned due to factors including weather conditions and sabotage acts by activists," AFP news agency quoted an agency official said. "There were definitely sabotage campaigns behind the figure."

The agency said the fleet had departed "as scheduled".

Enormous algal bloom floats near Antarctica

Deutsche Welle, 7 March 2012

An unprecedented algal bloom is making a splash in the Southern Ocean. Unlike in some other aquatic areas, the bloom there could be a blessing rather than a curse.

Scientists at the University of Tasmania have discovered a 20,000-square-kilometer (7,700-square-mile) bed of algae in Antarctica. The researchers became aware of the unusual bloom through satellite information from NASA, which captured images of huge, brownish-green spots in the waters of the ocean.

Experts say the phenomenon is extremely unusual.

Three factors involved

The German ocean glaciologist Jan Lieser, who conducts research in Hobart, Tasmania, explained that the algal bloom results from the interplay of three factors: an ice-free ocean, sunlight and the presence of nutrients, in this case iron.

Water in the region is typically low in iron, but strong winds could have blown dust and snow from the continent of Antarctica into the water, releasing the metal.

The algae spells a feast for whales
and other aquatic predators 

Lieser said that a second source of iron could be what's known as "fast ice," ice that forms in sheltered bays and remains over an extended period of time, even over several winters, and collects dust and dirt from the air.

"When it breaks up and drifts into the ocean, the sediment is released," Lieser said.

Time to gorge

When it comes to the Adriatic or Baltic Seas, researchers are prone to talk about an "algae plague," but the situation is different in the case of Antarctica.

"I expect a feast," Lieser said. All manner of tiny sea animals, such as Antarctic krill, quickly snap up the short-lived algae. "Krill then becomes food for seabirds, penguins, seals and even whales," Lieser explained.

The researchers can't identify the exact kind of algae at the moment, although they think it may be in the Phaeocystis family.

An Australian research boat was near the algal bloom by chance, and scientists on board have already taken samples. The crew plans to bring the specimens to Tasmania, where they will be analyzed.

Test results won't be available for another few days still. In the meantime, it'll be a feeding frenzy in the Antarctic.

Author: Tobias Oelmaier / sad

Editor: Greg Wiser

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“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."
.

Costa Concordia captain 'ordered crew to lie to coastguards'

Hearing told skipper Francesco Schettino was not wearing his glasses and could not see the radar properly

guardian.co.uk, Tom Kington in Grosseto, Saturday 3 March 2012

The Costa Concordia. A former Costa Cruises officer said Francesco
Schettino’s pride led to untruths. Photograph: Enzo Russo/EPA

Passengers from the Costa Concordia shared tales of their trauma at a preliminary hearing into the causes of the cruise ship disaster as damning new details about its captain emerged.

Francesco Schettino, who is under house arrest after steering the ship on to rocks on the island of Giglio on 13 January, was not wearing his glasses that night, the ship's first officer has told investigators. "He had forgotten them," said Ciro Ambrosio. "He asked me a number of times to adjust the scale of the radar because he couldn't see it well."

As Schettino grounded the listing ship in shallow water and it took on water, he told officers to lie to coastguards. "He ordered us to say everything was under control," said Ambrosio.

Investigators have also learned that Mario Palombo, a former officer at cruise ship operator Costa Cruises, who mentored Schettino, warned in 2003 that Schettino's pride drove him to lie. "In many cases, he preferred to lie to me rather than admit mistakes," Palombo wrote at the time.

Twenty-five passengers who have registered with the court as injured parties joined more than 100 lawyers and forensic experts in a theatre in the Tuscan town of Grosseto, booked to handle the crowd at the pre-trial hearing. "I just had to be here, I have to know how it happened," said Patrizia Perilli, who has been seeing a therapist since she fled the ship with 200 passengers in a lifeboat that crashed repeatedly against the tilting hull as it dropped into the sea.

As other passengers threaded past police barricades, curious onlookers and hordes of cameramen, they told similar stories of loss of sleep, panic attacks and visits to therapists and asked the same question – how did a ship the size of a tower block end up on its side, killing 32 passengers and crew. "I made it out, but now I want justice for the dead," said office worker Patrizia Bagnasco, 55.

Giacomo Brignone, a pizza restaurant owner from the island of Lampedusa, arrived with his wife and nine-year-old daughter Lina, who said: "I remember people praying, no one knowing what to do, and the cold."

The hearing was procedural, covering the appointment of experts to analyse the ship's black box. "I have dealt with cases involving more deaths, but what happened here defies belief," said one British lawyer there, Clive Garner.

Italian lawyer Pietro Ilardi said that Irina Navarova, a 25-year-old Russian ship's entertainer, sustained serious facial injuries when she fell from a deck, tumbled down the tilted ship's hull and swam to shore. "She is scarred for life and the firm offered her just €3,000 [£2,500] in compensation because she was not in the union," said Ilardi.

"Schettino was an imbecile, a criminal," said Francesca Scarramuzzi, 65, a retired teacher who was on board. "But I'd like to know if the company delayed abandoning ship in order to try to make it into port to avoid the compensation triggered by using lifeboats."

A lawyer representing Costa Cruises denied the firm had told Schettino not to abandon ship, despite 17 calls between the captain and company official Roberto Ferrarini in the hour after the collision. "That is impossible," said Alessandro Carella. "Schettino was the only one able to make the decision to abandon ship by law and company policy."

Apart from Schettino, eight other ship's officers and Costa executives are under investigation, including Ferrarini, who joined the emergency team set up by the firm last week to assist the more than 1,000 passengers and crew on another company vessel, the Costa Allegra, which was towed into the Seychelles after a fire knocked out all power on board.

Related Article:

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Hong Kong Airline Bans Dolphin Cargo: Activists

Jakarta Globe, March 01, 2012

A child watches dolphin at Batang Dolphin Center in Safari Park, Batang,
Central Java. Hong Kong Airlines has pledged to end flights where live
dolphins are transported in shallow tanks. (JG Photo/Ali Lutfi)

               

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Hong Kong. A Hong Kong airline has promised to stop transporting live dolphins after coming under heavy criticism from animal welfare activists, conservationists said on Wednesday.

More than 6,500 people have signed an online petition urging Hong Kong Airlines to stop the business, revealed when an internal memo about a recent delivery from Japan to Vietnam was leaked to Chinese media.

“Hong Kong Airlines wishes to convey that it is a responsible member of the transport industry caring for the future and environment,” the airline said in a letter to animal welfare groups dated Wednesday.

“Since it is believed that transportation of this nature can result in endangering wildlife elsewhere, Hong Kong Airlines will immediately ban shipments of this kind,” the letter stated.

A copy of the letter was posted on US-based conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Web site. Representatives from the group have written to the airline denouncing the dolphin shipment.

Hong Kong Airlines declined to comment.

“This action should send a message to all airlines that the consequences of transporting dolphins will result in such global negative publicity as to affect a loss of business that will far outweigh any short-term financial gain from the transfers,” Sea Shepherd Hong Kong coordinator Gary Stokes said.

The airline has said it complied with government rules and the International Air Transport Association regulations on live animal transportation during the January 16 delivery of the five dolphins from Osaka to Hanoi.

The dolphins are believed to have come from the Japanese town of Taiji, the scene of an annual dolphin slaughter depicted in Oscar Award winning documentary “The Cove,” said China Daily, which first reported on the delivery.

The leaked memo said the flight earned 850,000 Hong Kong dollars ($110,000) in cargo revenue. The China Daily report included a photograph of the dolphins lying in shallow, narrow containers inside the belly of a Boeing 733F cargo plane.

Agence France-Presse

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