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Marini -> RE: Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web (7/15/2010 8:34:56 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Brain
I'd be really worried if it wasn't for Limbaugh's assurances that the spill is nothing to worry about and that the oil is "as natural as ocean water is".
WHEW!
Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web
NEW ORLEANS — Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.
Along the coast, droplets of oil are being found inside the shells of young crabs that are a mainstay in the diet of fish, turtles and shorebirds.
And at the base of the food web, tiny organisms that consume oil and gas are proliferating.
If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem and imperil the region's multibillion-dollar fishing industry.
Federal wildlife officials say the impacts are not irreversible, and no tainted seafood has yet been found. But Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who chairs a House committee investigating the spill, warned Tuesday that the problem is just unfolding and toxic oil could be entering seafood stocks as predators eat contaminated marine life.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_15515041?source=rss
In this June 21, 2010, photograph provided by the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, a giant whale shark is photographed as it swims past a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site. The whale shark population in the Gulf are the subject of research by Eric Hoffmayer of The University of Southern Mississippi and Sylvia Earle of National Geographic. The research scientists are tagging the giant animals to study their fate in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (AP Photo/University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Eric Hoffmayer)
[image]local://upfiles/392475/729E97DCC65641F293F2928A427D4FF3.jpg[/image]
This makes perfect sense to me, to actually think that this will not affect food webs, food chains, predators that eat contaminated fish, etc. has to be a no brainer, Brain.
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