Immediately following the BP oil spill, sixty-seven bottlenose dolphins washed up on the Gulf of Mexico beaches. More than half, 35, were babies. That was the first calving season following the spill, and normally just one or two are found. That is 10 times the normal rate.
And health problem continue. Dolphin strandings remain abnormally high in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. About 1,000 dolphins live in Barataria Baywhich which recieved heavy and prolonged exposure to oil. Typically, 20 strandings a year is normal; but 180 strandings have been reported since February 2010.
Out of 32 dolphins tested by NOAA, they found problems like drastically low weight, abnornally low hormone levels, low blood sugar and, in some cases, cancer of the liver and lungs.
Charge BP with animal cruelty, or environment crimes, at least. Their quest for profit has killed thousands of animals, in the air, land and sea. It is criminal that their business has destroyed an American ecosystem. It is at least harrassment that dolphins cannot breed normally and are protected under the Marine Protection Act.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D, Administrator
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room 5128
Washington, DC 20230
NOAA Fisheries Service
Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement
Lesli Bales-Sherrod
301-427-2300 x103
8484 Georgia Avenue
Suite 415
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 427-2300
Immediately following the BP oil spill, sixty-seven bottlenose dolphins washed up on the Gulf of Mexico beaches. More than half, 35, were babies. That was the first calving season following the spill, and normally just one or two are found. That is 10 times the normal rate.
And health problem continue. Dolphin strandings remain abnormally high in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. About 1,000 dolphins live in Barataria Baywhich which recieved heavy and prolonged exposure to oil. Typically, 20 strandings a year is normal; but 180 strandings have been reported since February 2010.
Out of 32 dolphins tested by NOAA, they found problems like drastically low weight, abnornally low hormone levels, low blood sugar and, in some cases, cancer of the liver and lungs.
Charge BP with animal cruelty, or environment crimes, at least. Their quest for profit has killed thousands of animals, in the air, land and sea. It is criminal that their business has destroyed an American ecosystem. It is at least harrassment that dolphins cannot breed normally and are protected under the Marine Protection Act.
