BP and the Ecosystem

From The National Wildlife Federation

The following is a conservative opinion on the effects of the Oil disaster in the Gulf.
I personally think it's effects are going to be ten fold from this hypothesize.


How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat?

Coastal Louisiana's wetlands account for roughly 40% of wetlands in the continental United States, and sustain a huge variety of wildlife, including many rare, endangered, and threatened species. More than 400 fish and wildlife species rely on coastal Louisiana habitats for food, cover, and breeding.




The oil spill, the remains of which could last months, threatens the health of Lousiana's coastal habitats and the survival of its wildlife both in the short term and the long term.
Effects on Mammals

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Marine mammals, including West Indian manatees, bottlenose dolphins, sperm whales, and blue whales can come into contact with the oil and inhale harmful fumes when surfacing for air.
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Terrestrial and semi-aquatic mammals including river otters, mink and swamp rabbits will lose habitat and food sources as oil washes into coastal wetlands.

Brown Pelican
Effects on Birds

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Egrets, herons, ibises, roseate spoonbills, brown pelicans and Wilson's plovers (to name just a few) can suffer a loss of buoyancy and the ability to keep warm; skin and eye lesions; and ulcers, pneumonia, liver damage, and other life-threatening conditions from ingesting oil.
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Many ground-nesting shorebirds, including plovers and terns, are at risk of losing their eggs and young.
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Millions of migratory birds use the Gulf Coast as a critical stopover point after the exhausting flight across the Gulf of Mexico and will face habitat and food shortages as oil washes ashore.

Effects on Fish

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Yellowfin tuna, blue tuna, blue crabs, sharks, oysters, shrimp and other species lose their ability to fight disease and experience a build-up of contaminants in their bodies over time.
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Oil exposure is lethal to fish eggs and larvae that are not yet mobile and cannot escape the oil slick.

Thomas McDonald
Effects on Reptiles

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Reptiles depend on the coast for breeding ground, habitat and food sources. Sea turtles, including the loggerhead and the green turtle, are getting ready to begin their nesting season.

Effects on Habitat

Ninety percent of all the marine species in the Gulf depend on coastal estuaries at some point in their lives, and most of these estuaries are in Louisiana. Louisiana's estuarine habitat includes salt marshes and barrier islands that sit on the edge of Louisiana's coast, and those will be hit first--and hardest--by the oil spill.

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Oil is harder to remove from the highly organic soils that occur in coastal wetlands and marshes.
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Oil can kill or reduce growth of marsh grasses, which are a key source of food and cover for wildlife. This vegetation loss will also lead to erosion and contribute to the coast’s already rapid rate of land loss.

Polluted Ecosystem = Polluted Economy

The Gulf Coast states rely heavily on commercial fishing to sustain their local economies:

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The area affected by the spill is prime spawning ground for fish, shrimp, crabs, and is full of oyster beds.
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The Gulf region accounts for about one-fifth of total U.S. commercial seafood production and nearly three-quarters of the nation's shrimp output.
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Louisiana produces 50 percent of the U.S. shrimp crop, 35 percent of the nation's blue claw crab