PHOTOS: Wildlife, dead and dying in the Gulf

[Bluebear]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/multimedia/oilwildlife/?photos

Heartbreaking.

[Mimosa]

1. I don't want to look...but I will.

This is OUR world. *sad*

[arcadian]

2. i'm worried how those dead oil covered animals will effect Obama's approval rating

:sarcasm: if needed.

[Jamastiene]

34. That does seem to be what a lot of people are saying,

without the sarcasm tag. Sad, isn't it?

[mikita]

3. heartbreaking indeed.

Thanks for keeping it in our consciousness.

[kayakjohnny]

4. The worst.

That's terrible.

It's the saddest thing I've seen in years.

To me, this is the most horrific thing I've seen in 53 years on earth.

I'm just that much less worried about how long I live, thanks to this event.

[WeDidIt]

5. Top kill is apparently working

Everything the oil ends up on top of is killed.

[lunatica]

6. We should bear witness

It's hard to look at but it's the truth. And the truth is always a good thing to know, no matter how painful it is.

[CrispyQ]

7. Tragic as it is, this should be required viewing.

Everyone should see these photos to better understand what our dependence on this filthy fuel has wrought.

k&r

[tnlefty]

8. 'shrimp in other places'...

I'll bet that this is how the greedy oil pigs at BP feel about these animals, too.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate these bastards?

[Catherina]

31. Don't joke, they actually said "Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp."

"Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp!" BP rep Randy Prescott


They'd be better off if I hated them. All I have for them is a blind white rage. I want to see them all hung alive by their scrotums for the pelicans to peck at.

[Jamastiene]

35. Thank you.

I'm glad I am not the only one feeling that rage at them for their callousness.

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. Heartbreaking. That bird reaching out to the ship for help will be in my memory as long as I live.

:cry:

WHY do I open these links??

:cry:

[Bluebear]

23. That is the one that I can't escape either.

[CrispyQ]

29. We look at these photos so we can be witness to those who still think

"drill baby drill" is ok policy.

It's heart wrenching, but we can never forget. I notice that for all the hours AC360 has spent on the shores of Louisiana, they have not shown very much of the wild life at all. A shot here & there, but nothing like this collection. They know that photos like this will have a huge impact.

You have a heart & it is breaking, but it is good that you looked. :hug:

[Botany]

10. The star fish

:cry:

The live on the bottom and are very tough ..... God knows what else died w/ them.

My heart hurts.

[Terra Alta]

11. I couldn't even make it to the end..

It's just too heartbreaking.. :(

Fuck BP. :grr:

[Urban Prairie]

12. Seen these before, but

The picture of that white heron dying should be ordered to replace BP's corporate logo permanently.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. As tragic as this is

And yes it is tragic, things will recover as soon as they are able to ahem plug the hole...

That said, I am ready for a year... due to the nature of this...

As somebody asked today in one radio show, actually a profound question. What if this was caused by nature (think deep sea earthquake)...

See here is an example of a NATURALLY happening Asphalt volcano

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100426-asphalt-volcanoes-domes-california-underwater/

Well nature does clean itself, it has too.

Why I know nature is far more resilient than we give her credit for... and yes I expect to be accused of being blase, but in the scope of things, not just looking at the span of a SINGLE human lifetime, but geologic time, things like this do happen and nature is able to more or less take care of itself.

Oh and humans will not be here forever either. We will go extinct, like oh 99% of all life that's ever existed on our planet...

And yes, it is always tragic to see this, horrific indeed, but I try to keep some perspective.

Go ahead... I expect the accusations by now.

[William Z. Foster]

16. let people grieve

Have you no common decency?

What sort of salesperson crashes a funeral and launches into their pitch?

[Usrename]

17. Too bad our great-grandchildren won't be around to see it clean itself.

I don't think you comprehend the magnitude of this disaster. The disperant that BP dumped is banned all over the world because we know that it kills coral. I wish we could just buck up and ignore the Apocalypse, but I don't think that kind of attitude will help at all. This is exactly how these criminals keep getting away with more and more horrific crimes.

Instead of trying to intellectually minimize the damage, I think we should be taking a more serious look at how to punish the offenders and how to prevent this kind of thing in the future.

Tar and feathering seems appropriate to me, for a start.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. I actually think I do

Sixth Grand Extinction...

And Apex Species tend to go away. At the very least as Peak Oil develops into it's full horror, I expect a human population collapse... So yes, I do.

And you can tar and feather all you want.

Humans, in the end, might not be around, but nature will recover, like it has the last five times that life almost went extinct on this planet. Think dinosaur extinction, which is ironic given what oil is, and that one wasn't the worst one.

[BeFree]

30. Gawd

That is the same as telling a young girl after she has been raped that "You'll get over this, besides you're gonna die one day, anyway."

Please, just f'n stop.

[William Z. Foster]

40. what species are you?

You talk about human beings as though you were not one.

[BeFree]

18. "things will recover " ??

If you really understood nature, and the gulf in particular, and the way we have crippled ecosystems, you wouldn't be saying that: "things will recover as soon as they are able to ahem plug the hole... "

The gulf may recover some of its glory and fecundity, but given the shape it was in, the harm now visited upon the gulf will severely harm, forever, many of it's finer points.

It was limping along before now. This disaster has cut legs from under it and it will be a basket case for years and years.

[CrispyQ]

36. That may have been true in the past, but not any more.

Yes, Earth is resilient, but at some point, even Earth will not be able to compensate for the impact of humanity. Here's are two fascinating articles on the impact human activity is having on Earth.

Have Humans Caused the Earth to Enter a New Epoch?

http://www.alternet.org/environment/76497/

snip...

Geologists wonder if they should add a new epoch to the geological time scale. They call it the Anthropocene -- the epoch when, for the first time in Earth's history, humans have become a predominant geophysical force. Naming such a new epoch would also recognize that humans now share responsibility with natural forces for the state of our planet's ecological environment.

Geologists have been using the term informally for at least half a decade. Now members of the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London have laid out the case for giving the term official scientific status.

Presenting that case in the February (2008) issue of GSA Today magazine, the team notes that "since the start of the industrial revolution, Earth has endured changes sufficient to leave a global stratigraphic signature." It is different from anything found in the entire geological record up to that point. That means the team expects future geologists examining this record will recognize a distinct break with the Holocene ("recent whole") epoch that covers the past 10,000 years.

Atmospheric chemist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz says this presents humanity with an awesome challenge. He has pointed out that what the London team calls the "novel biotic, sedimentary, and geochemical change" now being written into the geological record reflects the emergence of human intelligence and technology as a geophysical force.

On his website, he explains this means that "to develop a world-wide accepted strategy leading to sustainability of ecosystems against human stresses will be one of the great future tasks of mankind." He adds that it will take "intensive research and wise application of the knowledge" gained to develop sustainable environmental management.

~more at link
~emphasis added

Here's another good article on this topic:

Humans Force Earth into New Geologic Epoch
January 2008

http://www.livescience.com/environment/080127-new-epoch.html

snip...


Humans have altered Earth so much that scientists say a new epoch in the planet's geologic history has begun.

Say goodbye to the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch and hello to the Anthropocene.

Among the major changes heralding this two-century-old man-made epoch:

>>Vastly altered sediment erosion and deposition patterns.

>>Major disturbances to the carbon cycle and global temperature.

>>Wholesale changes in biology, from altered flowering times to new migration patterns.

>>Acidification of the ocean, which threatens tiny marine life that forms the bottom of the food chain.

The idea, first suggested in 2000 by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen, has gained steam with two new scientific papers that call for official recognition of the shift.

~more at link

Sadly, humans have developed technology beyond our social/ethical evolution. We think just because we can, we should. That is not always the case, but we charge full speed ahead with little consideration for the consequences of our actions. We are committing crimes against our planet.

We are not fit to live on such a beautiful, bountiful planet.

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. Earth will recover as long as it remains this porche world

in the life zone... that does not guarantee that humanity will be around for that, but the planet will recover.

Ultimately and this is pretty much down in geologic time, her fate is to be swallowed by her sun, as her son expands when it eats it's energy up... to use a crude description.

But hey... you and I, ironically, agree.

This will not be the extinction level event. This and EVERY other thing we've done over the last oh 500 years, on the other hand...

[enigmatic]

14. Sickening pictures

I'm literally sick to my stomach looking at them.

I also just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your posts here; I rarely post or read this place anymore, but you and a few others are pretty much the only reasons I do read on the odd occasions I venture over here now. I know that you probably think sometimes that you're posting against the tide here but I'll always stand w/ you, and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[William Z. Foster]

41. one small point

Please, let's not blame all people for the actions of the few.

Yes, we are at fault for failing to rein in the predators among us. We can correct that mistake now.

But if we see the human family as a plague, then we have succumbed to the same horrific disregard for life and human beings that the corporations are showing with the actions of the greedy and rapacious few who are using the corporations to enslave us and destroy everything to satisfy their lust for power and wealth.

We are up against those who have no respect for human beings and human society first and foremost, and that leads to their cavalier attitude toward the natural world and the other creatures in it. Let's not agree with them by blaming human nature, or all human beings.

[MerryBlooms]

15. Soul wrenching

We're torturing to death millions of Earth's creatures and are killing the Earth as we type ... humans are a plague on this planet. We need to get serious on changing our ways. If this disaster can't finally wake us up as a whole, I don't know what will.

[Bryn]

19. Sad

:cry:

[David Zephyr]

20. Dude, you really know how to make an old man weep.

K&R. I tried to brace myself for the photos, but it didn't help at all. Your link had me sobbing.

Every jerk that mocked "treehuggers" should be forced to look at these photos.

You broke my heart, Bluebear.

[EFerrari]

21. Thanks for not posting the pictures.

:cry:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

22. K&R

[Swamp Rat]

24. !

:cry:

[tekisui]

26. On behalf of humans, I am sorry.

[Avalux]

27. I've avoided looking at the pictures all evening. I finally did just now.

:cry:

[Panorama]

28. Frustrating. n/t

[Catherina]

32. Here is one more. This one breaks me

In this May, 23, 2010 photo provided by the Plaquemines Parish, La. Government, a dead oil-covered dolphin lies on the ground in Venice, La. (AP Photo/Plaquemines Parish Government)


How low can we sink?

[Bluebear]

37. ....

Unbearable.

[Individualist]

33. K&R

although I can't bear to look at the pictures.

[suffragette]

38. K&R

:cry:

[Shining Jack]

39. K&R

We are all in the same boat.This catastrophe will have an impact that will affect millions of people.

Hey,British Polluters ? When it will happen in the North Sea where will you hide,parasites ?

[keep_it_real]

42. Fish & Birds must think humans are the stupidest creatures ever!

I would not be surprised if fish and birds start attacking humans in some way. We are destroying our one and only planet - stupid humans.

[Hubert Flottz]

44. K&R

Kill baby Kill...I'll bet Sarah is happy.

[Cetacea]

45. Very odd lack of coverage of the most beloved mammals

(arguably) So far there are twenty-five dead dolphins and who knows how many more that aren't accounted for.