Naomi Klein: The Search for BP's Oil

[marmar]

Published on Friday, January 14, 2011 by The Nation
The Search for BP's Oil

by Naomi Klein


"Dolphins off the bow!"

I race to the front of the WeatherBird II, a research vessel owned by the University of South Florida. There they are, doing their sleek silvery thing, weaving between translucent waves, disappearing under the boat, reappearing in perfect formation on the other side.

After taking my fill of phone video (and very pleased not to have dropped the device into the Gulf of Mexico), I bump into Gregory Ellis, one of the junior scientists aboard.

"Did you see them?" I ask excitedly.

"You mean the charismatic megafauna?" he sneers. "I'll pass."

Ouch. Here I was thinking everyone loves dolphins, especially oceanographers. But it turns out that these particular marine scientists have issues with dolphins. And sea turtles. And pelicans. It's not that they don't like them (a few of the grad students took Flipper pictures of their own). It's just that the charismatic megafauna tend to upstage the decidedly less charismatic creatures under their microscopes. Like the bacteria and phytoplankton that live in the water column, for instance, or 500-year-old coral and the tube worms that burrow next to them, or impossibly small squid the size of a child's fingernail. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/14-4

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[Auggie]

2. Awesome writing by Klein... kicked and recommended

[defendandprotect]

3. K/R

[LongTomH]

4. An article from December 2010

This ABC News article was posted to Latest Breaking News in December 2010. The research submersible Alvin surveyed the Gulf floor and found devastation:

"It looks like everything's dead," University of Georgia professor Samantha Joye said.

<snip>

The ocean floor appears to be littered with twigs, but Joye points out that they are actually dead worms and that Alvin is sitting on top of what is considered an 80-square mile kill zone.

<snip>

Aboard the Alvin Thursday, Joye said she saw "about three to four inches of material."

The devastation, she said, could last "years or decades."

[Uncle Joe]

5. This is an excellent read.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.