Topic: Deepwater Horizon

[Nichi]

Hurricane Alex graced the Gulf in the best possible distance from the spill, and yet, its effects are being noted along the coast, where efforts towards clean-up have to wait, and tar balls and crude are coming ashore. It's fair to conclude that any cyclone entering the Gulf is going to have its own disastrous effect: it doesn't matter if its path seems to be directly or indirectly engaged with the spill.

Furthermore, each storm which comes in delays BP's plugging of the leak, the completion of which is set to mid-August.

Meanwhile, a Taiwanese tanker has been converted to an "oil skimmer". The vessel is 10 stories high and heading toward the Gulf now.

Among the workers in Louisianna, there is talk of 'secret' night crews who remove the dead carcasses of dolphins, birds, fish, turtles, and whales who have washed ashore. The air quality is being investigated for toxicity. In short, hell it is there.

[Nichi]

Driving home the hell ... The oil spill workers are being housed in the rejected trailers FEMA offered post-Katrina (rejected per amounts of formaldehyde):

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/banned_fema_trailers_get_secon.html

[Nichi]

I couldn't pass up posting this: after all, as Michael often states, its main instruction is to "hold the light steady." The passage is passed on from the Walking the Red Road page...

"This is from the beautiful, amazing International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers--they each represent a continent and a native tradition. /..../ Here is something they have written about the oil spill--they advise us to "stay awake" and... then to reach into our hearts and help cast a "Net of Light." Please read and pass it along.....
Walking the Red Road

"We ask you to cast, anchor, and hold the Net of Light steady for the Gulf of Mexico," the Grandmothers said. "This crisis is affecting the entire world, and humanity is asleep. Wake up!" they cried. "Animals are dying, plants are dying, and your Mother is writhing in agony. If you hold the Net of Light steady at this time you will help stave off further catastrophe.

"You have been lulled into a false sleep," they said, "told that others (B.P.) would take care of this problem. This is not so," they said. "And this is not the time for you to fall into oblivion. Determine now to stay awake, and once you have made that commitment, think of, cast, and hold the Net of Light. Hold it deep and hold it wide. Amplify its reach to penetrate the waters of the Gulf and dive deep beneath the crust of Mother Earth. Anchor it at the earth's core and as you hold it there, ask it to unify with the mineral kingdom of this planet. It will do this and will harmonize with all the solid and liquid mineral states on earth-including oil and gas. The Net of Light will call these minerals back into harmony.

"Whatever human beings have damaged, human beings must correct," the Grandmothers said. "This is the law. We repeat: This is the law. You cannot sit back and ask God to fix the mess humanity has created. Each of you must throw your shoulders to the wheel and work. We are asking for your help. Several years ago we gave you the Net of Light so you would be able to help the earth at times like this. Step forward now. This is the Net of Light that will hold the earth during the times of change that are upon you," they said.

"First move into your heart and call on us. We will meet you there. The Net of Light is lit by the jewel of your heart," they said, "so move into this lighted place within you and open to the Net of which you are a part. Bask in its calming presence. It holds you at the same time that you hold it.

"Now think of magnifying your union with us. We, the Great Council of the Grandmothers, are with you now, and all those who work with the Net of Light are also with you. There are thousands, even millions now connected in light," they said. "Along with this union, call forth the power of the sacred places on earth. These will amplify the potency of our joint effort. Then call on the sacred beings that have come to prevent the catastrophe that threatens to overwhelm your planet. We will work together," they said, nodding slowly.

"Think of, cast and magnify the presence of the Net of Light in the Gulf of Mexico. See, imagine or think of it holding the waters, holding the land, the plants, the sea life, and the people. Holding them all!" they said. "The Net of Light is holding them steady; it is returning them to balance. Let the love within your lighted heart keep pouring into the Net of Light and hold, hold, hold. Calmly and reverently watch as the light from your heart flows along the strands of the Net. It will follow your command and continuously move forth. As soon as you think of it, it will happen. We ask you to practice this for only a few minutes at a time, but to repeat it throughout the day and night.

"We promise that this work with the Net of Light will do untold good," the Grandmothers said. "We are calling you to service now. You are needed. Do not miss this opportunity. We thank you and bless you."


-International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers
http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/about.html#agnes

[Nichi]

Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report PDF

Oiled bird numbers from International Bird Rescue -
1191 captured alive
2129 collected dead
511 treated and released

This has to be an underestimate, and of course does not include all the other wildlife.

Animal species treated:

Brown Pelicans
White Pelicans
Laughing Gulls
Northern Gannets
Night Herons
Cattle Egret
Snowy Egrets
Reddish Egret
Least Bitterns
Common Terns
Sandwich Terns
Least Terns
White Ibis
Herring Gulls
Dunlins
Roseate Spoonbills
Sanderlings
Terrapins
King Snake

http://www.ibrrc.org/gulf-oil-spill-birds-treated-numbers-2010.html

[Nichi]

Experts fear long oil effect on marine life, food chain

18 July 2010, WASHINGTON — Scientists studying the massive BP oil spill fear a decades-long, “cascading” effect on marine life that could lead to a shift in the overall biological network in the Gulf of Mexico.

With some 400 species estimated to be at risk — from the tiniest oil-eating bacteria to shrimp and crabs, endangered sea turtles, brown pelicans and sperm whales — experts say the impact of oil and chemical dispersants on the food chain has already begun, and could grow exponentially.

“A major environmental experiment is underway,” Ron Kendall, director of the Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University, told AFP.

“We are already impacting the base of the food chain,” he said, including plankton, which provide crucial food for fish, and juvenile shrimp in intertidal marshes along the Gulf Coast.

Kendall, whose institute is studying tissue samples from live and dead Gulf fish to analyze the spill’s impact, helped study effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil disaster on wildlife in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

With the Exxon Valdez, a finite amount of oil poured into the sea — about one 17th of the low estimate of the oil that has gushed from a ruptured well into the Gulf — and rose to the surface to coat the shoreline.

“This is so much more complex, what we’re dealing with now,” he said, noting that the 1.84 million gallons (7.0 million liters) of chemical dispersants used to fight the spill has kept some of the oil from fouling shores, but created potentially drastic problems by breaking up the oil has into droplets that may never be recovered.

Dispersants, says Kendall, release aromatic hydrocarbons and allow small oil droplets to be consumed by marine life, potentially threatening the food supply for humans.

No contaminated Gulf fish or seafood has reached the market, according to experts, but authorities have closed some 35 percent of all fishing waters, threatening the livelihoods of thousands and putting the region’s multibillion-dollar seafood industry in peril.

Researchers have reportedly observed major die-offs of organisms such as pyrosomes, cucumber-shaped creatures that are favorite meals of endangered sea turtles, which have been dying by the hundreds.

Kendall acknowledged that species shifts are possible but added that “we’re at the early stages of documenting the scientific effects of what’s occurring.”

BP and the US government say they have found more than 2,600 dead birds, mammals and turtles, but Doug Inkley, a senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, warns that could be the tip of the iceberg.

Many dead fish and sharks sink, so their numbers may never be known.

Inkley pointed to ongoing studies which show oil is expected to have a large effect on plankton — and the animals that eat them.

“This could be an effect that will ripple all the way up the food chain,” he said.

He fears a delayed disaster, similar to when Prince William Sound’s Pacific herring population collapsed four years after the Exxon Valdez spill, likely because few of the herring that spawned in 1989 reached maturity.

Dozens of marine and bird species were beginning their breeding season in April when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank, setting off the huge spill.

“You could have a (population) crash later because of the failure of many of the young to survive this year,” said Inkley. “The impacts on wildlife I expect will last for years, if not decades.”

Congressman Ed Markey, chairman of a House subcommittee on energy and the environment, echoed the concerns in a letter to the Food and Drug Administration.

He said evidence showed “the marine food chain in the Gulf of Mexico has already been contaminated,” and pointed to researchers who recently uncovered oil droplets found inside crab larvae harvested from the Gulf.

“This finding is particularly disconcerting because these larvae are a source of food for numerous aquatic species and this is therefore the first sign that hydrocarbons have entered into the food web.”

Complicating the scenario, the Gulf will soon host millions of fowl on autumn and winter migrations.

“We’ll have a whole new wave of ducks and waterbirds that will be coming here and getting affected,” Kendall said. “Who knows what impact that will bring?”
 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/environment/2010/July/environment_July40.xml&section=environment

[Nichi]

...

[Muffin]

With the risk of appearing ignorant... what does this mean?

[Nichi]

With the risk of appearing ignorant... what does this mean?

It's a cyclone (Bonnie) moving into the area (see more current graphic, which wasn't available earlier, sorry). The good news is that another storm to its west is apparently going to offset its reaching hurricane status. The bad news is, there's another storm to its west, which will surely abet the pushing of oil onto all the wetlands.

[Nichi]

Experts fear long oil effect on marine life, food chain

18 July 2010, WASHINGTON — Scientists studying the massive BP oil spill fear a decades-long, “cascading” effect on marine life that could lead to a shift in the overall biological network in the Gulf of Mexico.

With some 400 species estimated to be at risk — from the tiniest oil-eating bacteria to shrimp and crabs, endangered sea turtles, brown pelicans and sperm whales — experts say the impact of oil and chemical dispersants on the food chain has already begun, and could grow exponentially.

“A major environmental experiment is underway,” Ron Kendall, director of the Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University, told AFP.

/...../
(See above post)
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/environment/2010/July/environment_July40.xml&section=environment

How curious that NOAA gave the go-ahead for a large portion of the Gulf to be re-opened for commercial fishing today. But also how curious that Florida's citizens "voted in" offshore drilling. One sector's "facts" are another sector's blindman's buff. Someone with a lot of greed is at the helm.

[Michael]

This is a good example of the situation which faces humanity.

On one side, so many situations call for cooperation, change and restraint.
On the other it's not just greed, although that mind set is there, but they wouldn't call it greed, they would call it business and resource security. The majority however would simply see an issue of having or not-having a job - feeding and providing security for their family.

This causes a dilemma where many people hold opposing views at the same time. They want the beauty of their environment and especially the health that comes from that, but they also want good paying work and fear the consequences of losing their job.

I see this increasing across the globe. The big answers to the big problems stalking life on Earth, have cogent resistance based on short-term realities.

[Nichi]

I'm into something a little more radical than the armchair/intellectual/academic appreciation of beauty. There are living things all around us, which is the purview of far more than idle eyes or hands. It isn't a "luxury" - personally, wherever I've worked in the past 30 years, I've found tons of wild critters lurking beyond the sidewalk's edge. They're there - to be seen, or not. They have lives they've eked out, and humor.  They never interfered with my clocking in or out.

In order to advocate for them, one is called a "bleeding heart" or a "greenie weenie". I don't accept that dichotomy, though I'm surely familiar with it.

We've known for decades we needed to be working on other forms of energy, and had we followed through, I have no doubt that the economy would not be in danger of perilous decline if we chose something other than oil. So we only have ourselves to blame if it really does come down to having a job or not. This system only stands to go on and on, as the burl of oiled men, and their inconceivably rich employers, stand defiantly against the value of life en masse. Never willing to use their imagination to come up with something wholly different than blackening the earth.   

[Builder]

A dreamer I once worked together said that oil is a spinal fluid of a being we call Earth.

[Michael]

I'm into something a little more radical than the armchair/intellectual/academic appreciation of beauty. There are living things all around us, which is the purview of far more than idle eyes or hands. It isn't a "luxury" - personally, wherever I've worked in the past 30 years, I've found tons of wild critters lurking beyond the sidewalk's edge. They're there - to be seen, or not. They have lives they've eked out, and humor.  They never interfered with my clocking in or out.

In order to advocate for them, one is called a "bleeding heart" or a "greenie weenie". I don't accept that dichotomy, though I'm surely familiar with it.

That is a different matter - that is a personal awareness of yours and many others, however as a group within humanity, it is extremely small. Those of us who actually 'feel' the environment, have always had a difficult road unless we can find untouched wilderness.

For the rest it is a cultural identity and a growing awareness that our air, food and water etc are becoming very unhealthy.
That is the struggle I am speaking of above, which is manifesting in the world like rarely before.

We've known for decades we needed to be working on other forms of energy, and had we followed through, I have no doubt that the economy would not be in danger of perilous decline if we chose something other than oil. So we only have ourselves to blame if it really does come down to having a job or not. This system only stands to go on and on, as the burl of oiled men, and their inconceivably rich employers, stand defiantly against the value of life en masse. Never willing to use their imagination to come up with something wholly different than blackening the earth.   

It is true indeed, but it goes way beyond oil. There is a terminal illness in our whole attitude to life - how long before it becomes finally unsustainable and crumbles, is the question. I think we have at least five years, or twenty at the outside.

There are many talking about this currently. One prominent view is that all our problems from oil to obesity to Global Climate Change to species extinctions is all about having passed the threshold of Consumption Economics. We are now into Over-Consumption and can't stop.

I had a realisation in the Art Gallery in Sydney last week. When I look at Indian art, I feel they use the Gods as a symbolic rallying-point, culturally, artistically and metaphysically. It keep them off the streets of the mind - provides a purpose.

When I see Western secular art, I have this powerful sense that they have no purpose, no direction - they are simply revelling in their own personal freedom to explore whatever takes their fancy. That can be beautiful or ugly. Otherwise they utilise factual reality as a rallying-point, where they seek to replicate the outer world - that has no metaphysical purpose but at least it keeps them of the mental streets.

I also felt that Western secular art is only a reflection of the social world. Walking the city streets I sense the same - there is no purpose to life aside from consumption - work to consume stuff, be it things or experiences, but all with no purpose.

I do think that most of humanity like it exactly that way - they like the 'freedom' from obligation, as much as the artists.

Curiously, I also felt that Japanese art has always been abstract, 'modern' and secular. But for some reason I feel they know what they are doing - they don't appear lost. I have a sense of comfortableness with their eccentricity, probably because of the exquisite sensitivity of their art.

[Builder]

In chaos theory in math there is a term called bifurcation point. It is a point beyond which a mathematical function obtains a radically different value - a steep change occurs.

Given that we are witnessing another 'hottest period of history of measurements' (and changes in giant systems like Earth take a long time to come forth), it is reasonable to assume that we have passed the bifurcation point. In other words, we (i.e. present humanity in general) and our way of life and our way of thinking have been sentenced.

Now what?

[Nichi]

Now what?

Good question!