BP Blocks Attempt to Save Endangered Sea Turtles from Oil Fire

[G_j]

http://www.seaturtles.org/article.php?id=1660

BP Blocks Attempt to Save Endangered Sea Turtles from Oil Spill
June 16th, 2010

A shrimp boat captain in Louisiana hired by BP was blocked from rescuing juvenile Kemp's ridleys that were covered in oil in the Gulf waters. He was captured on video saying that the turtles are being collected in the clean-up efforts and burned up like so much ocean debris with other marine life gathering along tide lines where oil also congregates.

He witnessed BP workers burning turtles caught in the oil booms. Rescue efforts are being ended tomorrow.

STRP's Gulf Director Carole Allen responded to the news by saying "The burning of boom and oil when even one sea turtle was seen in the water is a despicable crime."

STRP's Chris Pincetich has been in communication with both the reporter who shot the interview and the Captain who witnessed the illegal killing of sea turtles, and is making arrangements to ensure that sea turtle rescue efforts are not stopped, and can be performed in areas with boomed oil.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the "Death by Fire" June 17:


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-burnbox-20100617,0,4814068.story


Death by fire in the gulf
So-called burn boxes are torching oil from the water's surface at the sacrifice of turtles, crabs, sea slugs and other sea life.

By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times
June 17, 2010

Reporting from the Gulf of Mexico —
Here on the open ocean, 12 miles from ground zero of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the gulf is hovering between life and death.

The large strands of sargassum seaweed atop the ocean are normally noisy with birds and thick with crustaceans, small fish and sea turtles. But now this is a silent panorama, heavy with the smell of oil.

There are no birds. The seaweed is soaked in rust-colored crude and chemical dispersant. It is devoid of life except for the occasional juvenile sea turtle, speckled with oil and clinging to the only habitat it knows. Thick ribbons of oil spread out through the sea like the strips in egg flower soup, gorgeous and deadly.

..more..

Venice, Louisiana, Boat Captain/ by Catherine Craig:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kjw3_bMk8o&feature=player_embedded

[Angry Dragon]

1. I called bp about this and was

told that I could not believe 70% to 80% of what I was seeing or reading.
The news was just lying to me. Also, that a lot of the clips that one was seeing on the news was from the Exxon-Valdez spill

I told them that I could not fathom why scientists would lie about something like this.

[G_j]

5. I just added the video of the boat captain to the OP

I believe it

[Angry Dragon]

12. I did not agree with them

I was just stating what they told me.

Too much negative coming from bp to give then much on the truth issue

[G_j]

18. I know you didn't, AND on top of the BS they gave you......

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/14/bp-call-center /

Operator At BP Call Center Says Company Never Does Anything With The Calls: We’re Just A ‘Diversion’

To demonstrate that it’s responsibly taking care of the oil spill and listening to public complaints, BP has touted the fact that it has set up call centers to handle the response. However, one of the operators at the BP Call Center in West Houston has revealed that she and the other 100 employees are just PR props; BP isn’t actually doing anything with the thousands of calls it receives:

“We take all your information and then we have nothing to give them, nothing to give them,” said Janice.

Janice said calls about the oil disaster are non-stop and that operators are just warm bodies on the other end of the phone.

“We’re a diversion to stop them from really getting to the corporate office, to the big people,” said Janice. … Because the operators believe the calls never get past them, some don’t even bother taking notes.


BP told KHOU in Houston that it has received “more than 200,000 phone messages from the Call Center in Houston,” but it couldn’t “say just what percentage of calls is returned.”

CAP Senior Fellow Tom Kenworthy and the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson have written that “ederal agencies, not BP, should handle spill response hotlines for volunteers, technology ideas, affected wildlife, and others. Full call records need to be logged with incident reports and technology ideas presented publicly on dynamic websites.” (HT: Raw Story)

[Curmudgeoness]

9. You can't believe 70-80% of what BP says, if it isn't 100%

I don't recall boomed oil being burned in Valdez incident, but even if they did, I don't think many people were concerned about the baby Rigley Kemp turtles up there.

[KamaAina]

32. That's because there are no Kemp's ridley sea turtles up there

the endangered species is found primarily in the Gulf. :scared:

[emmadoggy]

14. OMG.

Do they really believe people are stupid enough to not be able to tell the difference between footage from 20 YEARS AGO, in ALASKA, to 2010 in the GULF OF MEXICO?? WTF?

I hate these fuckers with a burning white hot passion.

[ashling]

16. a lot of the clips that one was seeing on the news was from the Exxon-Valdez spill

Well, isn't that the spill they prepared for.. with walruses and all?

[wordpix]

53. Exxon Valdez---where the shoreline is rocky & people wear cold-climate clothes?

:rofl: that is the height of absurdity since the Gulf is a hot and sandy shoreline.

[democrank]

2. Honestly, this makes me want to cry.

[Lil Missy]

3. The fuckers don't even care that they get caught.

[flyarm]

37. nO THEY DON'T AND OUR GOVERNMENT DOESN'T CARE TO CATCH THEM EITHER!

In facct i would say our government has given them the green light to do any damn thing they want to our Gulf anf our eco system and our marine and wild life and to human beings they are expsong to all kinds of Toxins!

Welcome to the New America ..run by the New Democrats!

From a gulf Coast resident.

and to those who want and proceed to sell us out in the Gulf..you have toxins coming your way soon enough from this shit!..It will be your kids and their kids living with this in the near future.

[Catherina]

4. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them.

I hate the MMS. I hate the people who turned a blind eye. I hate them. I hate them.

:cry:

[Jamastiene]

38. Awwww

I can't stop :cry: either when I think about it. :hug:

[Catherina]

43. Thank you girlfriend

Backatcha with love :hug:

[Mimosa]

6. Federal government has ALLOWED BP to do this ecocide!

Do we have any Senators or Congresscritters who are environmentalists for REAL? I do not think so.

[Barrett808]

7. This, my friends, is what world-ending doom looks like

Which habitats to sacrifice? The unseen ones, of course.

http://www.desdemonadespair.net/

[Child_Of_Isis]

8. How much will Lousiana take?

Throw the freaking BP bums out your state!

[Mimosa]

13. Child of Isis, the FEDS make the rules

Louisiana gets less of oil and gas revenues than any other oil producing state. And the Obama administration will not let that change. Obama's administration has allowed BP -along with the Coast Guard- to control whatever happens to our wetlands.

Haven't you seen what happens when states try to make their own rules? The Justice dept will file suit to stop them.

[Child_Of_Isis]

21. BP supplies 80% of oil to the troops in Iraq.

I read that somewhere today. It is obvious what the hell is going on here.

[inna]

10. OMFG. Please do not tell me they burn dying, but still alive, turtles???

I don't even want to know. I just can't take it anymore.

[dana_b]

57. from the video in the OP

it does sound like the turtles are alive. Heartless, souless bastards.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. What recourse do we have?

I am so outraged I cannot see any end to it.

These people are criminals of the worst sort, and they must pay for their crimes.

[Child_Of_Isis]

19. Go to your elected officials

Tell them to throw BP out or you will throw them out. How many people are in Louisana anyway? 4,492,076...I just looked it up.

[glinda]

15. Flood the WH with emails peoples!

[G_j]

23. we must try everything!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

[Child_Of_Isis]

28. white house e-mail links here.

Tell them to throw BP out of the state of Louisiana. Now!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

[Rex]

17. They didn't give a shit about 11 humans, why would they

even raise an eye to killing animals like sea turtles!? This is a corporation after Dick Cheney's own heart! I hear he has divorced Halliburton and wants a shotgun marriage to BP...OH IM SORRY...B O P. :eyes:

[SammyWinstonJack]

50. Exactly! Evil soulless bastards!

[Doremus]

20. Unfathomable cruelty. There are no words to express my outrage.

So I will simply cry for the innocents.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Beringia]

22. Thanks for posting

If they are exposed, they won't continue to do things like this.

[Angry Dragon]

31. They are exposed and no one stops them

that is why it is hard for the people that care to understand that someone is in charge.
It appears to many that no one is in charge, and no one cares, that can change the way things are being done

[Beringia]

42. the Department of Wildlife should be there

The next best bet is the Humane Society. But I do realize there is no one specifically tasked to take care of wild animals in disasters.

[G_j]

44. Also!

The org. linked in the OP,

Sea Turtle Restoration Project
STRP works tirelessly to protect endangered sea turtles and other marine species from the numerous threats to their survival on beaches and in their ocean home. But we couldn't do our work without the generous support of individuals, foundations and businesses who care deeply about gentle, fascinating sea turtles and their ocean environment.

http://www.seaturtles.org/section.php?id=60
``````````````````````
& The National Wildlife Foundation,

WILDLIFE EMERGENCY
Please help today!

Sea turtle

Millions of gallons of oil have oozed into the water since the April 20th rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Some estimates calculate the oil flow to be up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day—that’s 2.5 million gallons of oil a day contaminating our waters and threatening wildlife and sensitive habitats!

And we still don’t know when it will stop.

The wildlife casualties are adding up. Hundreds of birds and sea turtles have already been found dead. Hundreds more animals are struggling to survive, drenched in toxic oil. Sadly, this is just the beginning of what’s in store for wildlife in the region due to this devastating tragedy.

Please donate today to support National Wildlife Federation’s efforts on-the-ground to confront this crisis. We’re tracking and reporting on the impacts of the oil spill, and we’re setting up an extensive network of volunteers that will support wildlife rescue and rehabilitation efforts and restore damaged coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.

We’re working hard to safeguard the treasured wildlife and wild places impacted by this catastrophe. But we need your help to get the job done.

http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife.aspx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
& taken from a DU post,

Links to help people and wildlife harmed by the BP catastrophe

Category: Pets and Animals
I'm lucky to know of two orgs which have positive reputations for helping people and wildlife in the South Louisiana and Mississippi areas. http://www.audubon.org /

And Catholic Relief Services will help people out of work, like the fishing communities. Here's a link to the Diocese in the afflicted community, Houma/Terrebonne. The Bishop's fund to help people who are losing their jobs because of the spill also happens to take PayPal. http://www.htdiocese.org/.../tabid/1163/Default.aspx

And last but not least the wonderful Audubon Zoo runs the primary responder program to rescue Sea Turtles and marine mammals: http://www.auduboninstitute.org/gulf-oil-spill-resources

[Child_Of_Isis]

24. Somebody post phone numbers of elected officials, e-mails

whatever! Let's get to flooding.

[G_j]

26. for starters

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

[tnlefty]

25. Nevermind, I think the captain is in another link!

:hi:

[G_j]

27. sorry, clink on the first link and scroll down

[CaliforniaPeggy]

29. I just gave Sea Turtle Restoration Project some money...

I hope it will help.

[G_j]

36. thank you!

:yourock:

[jwirr]

30. What planet are these people at BP from - they seem to think the only

valuable thing in nature is oil. I cannot believe the things they are doing.

[midnight armadillo]

45. Why would they think any different?

Have industrialized nations acted in any way to indicate to oil companies that anything other than a continuous and ever growing supply of oil was important?

The answer, of course, is no, not in the slightest. Now pardon me I need to use my SUV to pick up my 2-stroke lawn tractor to mow my 4 acres of lawn and spread a few tons of petroleum derived fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides. the lawn is the envy of the whole neighborhood!

[jwirr]

56. That is so I guess - up here in northern MN we are very conscious

of preserving the nature around us - but you are correct very few of us are trying to change our oil dependent lifestyles. Even those of us who are usually are doing little things that do not cramp our style.

[City Lights]

33. Another day, another heartbreak.

:cry:

I can't take much more.

[KamaAina]

34. Isn't it a crime to kill endangered species?

:grr:

[G_j]

35. it was

:shrug:

[Jamastiene]

39. Apparently not for corporations.

This burns me up. :mad:

[Jamastiene]

40. I'm beyond enraged by this.

I'm both angry and deeply sad at the time time. :(

[Mendocino]

41. The turtles are evidence, they let them

burn and sink, no evidence. The animals that we do see might be 1% of what has really been affected. Every rescued abimal is just the tip of the iceberg. The wildlife toll is immense and uncountable. And BP knows it.

[Pavulon]

46. That makes me sick. These people have been playing with a pickup crew

and in reactive mode the whole time. They are not being held responsible and the government is not overseeing this.

This is a systemic failure and proves what a bunch of grab ass morons can do to destroy out country.

What is clusterfuck.

[G_j]

47. 'a systemic failure' and this apect of clean up isn't 5000 ft down

there are other people who could be doing this.

[amborin]

48. what can we do to stop this?

[G_j]

49. good question!

:shrug:

[amborin]

51. i've signed petitions....but what else? why is this allowed?

[G_j]

52. this part of the clean up is not 5000 ft. down

I don't understand why BP is still calling the shots.
:mad:

[Tsiyu]

54. Kicking

And Rec'd


:kick:

[and-justice-for-all]

55. how fucking revolting...

they are on a sinking ship and want to take everyone and everything down with them.

[Quantess]

58. Truly sickening.

:kick: