Sea creatures flee oil spill, gather near shore

Originally posted by Karilla
This is yet another example of mankind raping the seas.

"Why haven't people been up in arms about the albatross chicks on Midway choking on plastic bags, or the decimation of fish-stocks from over-fishing, or the bleaching of coral, or the polution from run-off and outfall that have turned some coastal areas into aquatic deserts, or the Japanese whaling fleets butchery, or any of a host of other assaults against marine life that we are responsible for?

Our custodianship of this planet has been an unmitigated disaster and I can't escape the feeling that it's time for another species to take a turn.

I feel phyysically sick when I imagine what these creatures are going through.

"

I couldn't agree more Karilla.

Excellent summary of what we have been getting away with..... It is a disgrace and maybe we do need a population CULL / reduction to even things out a bit...

Regards
PurpleDog UK

reply to post by marg6043


Yeah well we don’t just discard it! It can be restored!

reply to post by muzzleflash


In one way you are right, however, zoos and sanctuaries may be the only places left on the planet to see these "animals" - we humans are making a pretty good mess of the natural enviroment where these creatures "naturally" live.

Originally posted by Donkey_Dean
reply to post by marg6043

 

Yeah well we don’t just discard it! It can be restored!

That's one part of this we have to remember. If we can't trust the government or the responsible parties, we have to get the right people in charge of the right supplies and technologies that can actually FIX this, if it can be fixed, or at least stopped before it gets much worse. Sitting around theorizing is a good start, but the fact is this is happening NOW. Whoever's responsible has done the damage; it's up to us to, somehow or another, to figure out how to clean it up, since it seems not many others are putting forth the best efforts to do so.

And as a side-mention, I'm a loooooongtime fan of ATS but new to the boards, and have been devouring this entire section over the past few days. VERY interesting stuff, and lots of great pictures and videos I'd not have found otherwise - so I wanted to say thanks to all you good people who've been around for awhile and are making posts and keeping tabs for your tenacity and your genuine wish for a better world. ATS is awesome. (Not the place for fangirling, I know, but I had to get that out at some point.)

I feel like shooting myself after reading this report, and I only use 1-2 gallons of gas each month. I can only imagine what those that use that much in one day must be feeling like right now. So sad. Lets go back to living modest minimal lives in little log cabins on the prairie. Think Amish lifestyle. I'll go first if everyone else follows, okay?

Aside from the carnage that is adding up, you can add algae to that, too. A photographer from the Grand Isle who goes by Native Orleanian on facebook has been taking excellent photos. I recommend everyone stop by his page to see all his photos of the area.

He took before and after photos of the algae on coastal rocks. Before, it was barely green, now, it's rust color and peeling off.

Algae Dying

reply to post by muzzleflash


I am a member of the local Community Emergency Response team on an island in SW Florida. We were briefed yesterday by the City Manager who advised that the reason no volunteers can rescue wildlife or assist with cleanup is not just lack of hazmat training, but the fact that the local governments need the liability protection of only PAID persons assisting, because they are then covered by workmen's comp. ARE OUR PRIORITIES SCREWED UP????????????

Originally posted by baddmove
Tom Sabo has been fishing off Panama City, Fla., for years, and he's never seen the fishing better or the water any clearer than it was last weekend 16 to 20 miles off the coast. His fishing spot was far enough east that it wasn't affected by the pollution or federal restrictions, and it's possible that his huge catch of red snapper, grouper, king mackerel and amberjack was a result of fish fleeing the spill.

Sigh... It's possible that his huge catch was the result of the solar system crossing the galactic equator, too, but it's not a FACT.

There are too many of these environmental apocalypse ANECDOTES floating out there — entire news articles based on hearsay, rumor and anecdote, and drawing hysterical associations where none exist.

Anybody who fishes the Gulf Coast knows that, when clear water moves in from offshore, millions of shark and stingrays and dolphin congregate in the coastal waters — and I'm talking a hundred yards off the beach. Hell, I've caught kingfish and cobia ling off of Gulf fishing piers, and those are deepwater fish.

On the Gulf, the fishermen watch and wait for the "green water" to move in, because it means fantastic fishing, bringing every sort of marine creature you can imagine into the relatively shallow coastal waters. That's the way it's been for as long as I can remember, which is half a century.

Now the fanatics are trying to blame GREAT FISHING on the oil leak.

Give me a fekking break.

And where are all these multitudes of oil-soaked birds (the ones that didn't "crawl away into the marsh, never to be seen again")? So far, I've seen about a dozen featured in the MSM. A few weeks ago they found a dead porpoise. Today they found a dead whale.

But these are NOT apocalyptic numbers, people. There are far more more pelicans and sea turtles and cetaceans washing up on shore under pristine circumstances. Marine life dies of a variety of natural and unnatural causes, and tons of fish and crabs and mammals wash ashore quite regularly — usually leaving marine biologists puzzled until necropsies are performed and the true reason for the die-off is revealed several weeks later.

Today, however, any decomposing carcass that washes in is instantly photographed and goes straight to the headlines: More dead marine creatures discovered! Blame BP!

This is nonsense. It's just another opportunity to sell another ecological disaster hoax based on a routine oil leak in the Gulf.

Yep, I said routine.

— Doc Velocity

I fish here off Destin. I have seen many very large sharks in the area as well as many more of every kind of fish. A few weeks ago I saw several thousand rays 500-600 feet off the shore just sitting still in the water. I figured it was their mating season or something but now I am not so sure.

I have also seen Dolphin fish schools in much closer than normal actually just outside the pass.

The catch has been good though they closed the pass yesterday to try and keep the oil out of the bay.

The Shark I saw last week was truely huge but he never came up more than 5 feet from the surface. It had 0 fear of approaching the boat. I have never seen a Great White but this thing did look like the ones on Discovery channel. Not even sure if they live in the gulf.

Originally posted by Xeven
The Shark I saw last week was truely huge but he never came up more than 5 feet from the surface. It had 0 fear of approaching the boat. I have never seen a Great White but this thing did look like the ones on Discovery channel. Not even sure if they live in the gulf.

Great Whites are found in every ocean on Earth, but they seem to prefer the cooler latitudes. However, the Great White's closest relative is the Mako shark, and they are all over the Gulf of Mexico. Talk about a mean-ass animal, a Mako really will tear your boat apart.

But, seriously, there are many large sharks in the Gulf — and I mean monsters. I'm guessing you may have seen a Tiger shark...it's so big, it regularly eats adult sea turtles. Of course, if you had seen a Great Hammerhead, you would have known that. Aside from these two maneaters, there are fairly huge Nurse sharks, Lemon sharks, Black Tips, Bull sharks and a zillion oceanic sharks like Blues and White Tips.

They always look scarier when you're in a 20-foot boat and the damned fish is three-quarters as long as the boat. That's why we always carried firearms when we went shark fishing.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by Doc Velocity

Originally posted by baddmove
Tom Sabo has been fishing off Panama City, Fla., for years, and he's never seen the fishing better or the water any clearer than it was last weekend 16 to 20 miles off the coast. His fishing spot was far enough east that it wasn't affected by the pollution or federal restrictions, and it's possible that his huge catch of red snapper, grouper, king mackerel and amberjack was a result of fish fleeing the spill.

Sigh... It's possible that his huge catch was the result of the solar system crossing the galactic equator, too, but it's not a FACT.

There are too many of these environmental apocalypse ANECDOTES floating out there — entire news articles based on hearsay, rumor and anecdote, and drawing hysterical associations where none exist.

Anybody who fishes the Gulf Coast knows that, when clear water moves in from offshore, millions of shark and stingrays and dolphin congregate in the coastal waters — and I'm talking a hundred yards off the beach. Hell, I've caught kingfish and cobia ling off of Gulf fishing piers, and those are deepwater fish.

On the Gulf, the fishermen watch and wait for the "green water" to move in, because it means fantastic fishing, bringing every sort of marine creature you can imagine into the relatively shallow coastal waters. That's the way it's been for as long as I can remember, which is half a century.

Now the fanatics are trying to blame GREAT FISHING on the oil leak.

Give me a fekking break.

And where are all these multitudes of oil-soaked birds (the ones that didn't "crawl away into the marsh, never to be seen again")? So far, I've seen about a dozen featured in the MSM. A few weeks ago they found a dead porpoise. Today they found a dead whale.

But these are NOT apocalyptic numbers, people. There are far more more pelicans and sea turtles and cetaceans washing up on shore under pristine circumstances. Marine life dies of a variety of natural and unnatural causes, and tons of fish and crabs and mammals wash ashore quite regularly — usually leaving marine biologists puzzled until necropsies are performed and the true reason for the die-off is revealed several weeks later.

Today, however, any decomposing carcass that washes in is instantly photographed and goes straight to the headlines: More dead marine creatures discovered! Blame BP!

This is nonsense. It's just another opportunity to sell another ecological disaster hoax based on a routine oil leak in the Gulf.

Yep, I said routine.


Today, however, any decomposing carcass that washes in is instantly photographed and goes straight to the headlines: More dead marine creatures discovered! Blame BP!

This is nonsense. It's just another opportunity to sell another ecological disaster hoax based on a routine oil leak in the Gulf.

Yep, I said routine.

LOL..I don't think anything like this is "routine" Doc..gimme a break..ok?


— Doc Velocity

[edit on 18-6-2010 by baddmove]

Saw this report early today and had a weird flash about why the dolphins and sharks were congregating toward the shore instead of to the open and as of yet still cleaner waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean...think they're trying to warn us or something? Weird. I know. It's all so very sad.

[edit on 18-6-2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Or maybe they are trapped?

If a large plume is reaching across the gulf, and almost at the keys, then it makes sense to me that the animals in between the plume and the shore, are essentially trapped.

Something I've been wondering; Obama says go to the beach anyway that it's not that bad. Now we're getting reports of sharks moving inland to the beaches. If some beaches are coated in oil and others are infested with sharks, where does he think anyone is going to swim? Shark attacks near beaches are not uncommon, but as the oil continues to innudate the coastline those beaches that are still clean may be closed due to safety concerns over sharks in the water. Just a thought.

reply to post by Doc Velocity


Routine? When was the last one we had like this in the Gulf of Mexico with all of the issues with the cracked well head?

Your anecdotal evidence about finding deepwater fish toward the coasts sounds feasible, however, the word routine doesn't seem to fit what we are seeing here...

I mean, if you mean routine as in the gas leak in Russia that has been on fire for the last 35 years with no end in sight... then maybe your characterization is correct.

As far as I can tell there is nothing routine about this, if it were routine, BP et al would know how to handle this... but they have failed every time to stop the leak...

I'm still scratching my head as to how this is routine...

Originally posted by Teahupoo
I can agree with this. I live on Pensacola Beach and run the beach every morning at day break. This morning I saw a 7-8 foot shark feeding within 30-40 yards of the beach and at the same time a smaller one under two feet an arms length away from me in shin deep water. I also saw a small green sea turtle the same distance from the shore...

I've noticed dolphins coming in closer and hanging out in inlets - they are all looking for safe haven.

They are looking for oxygen,
they are gasping for breath
there is bug spray in their home...
a lot of it

Originally posted by baddmove
reply to post by Alethea

 

People still need to eat my friend..

No one knows where Greenpeace or Willie Nelson are for some reason.

where are all the concerts and events to help clean this mess up and save the wildlife? No one seems to know..

concerts will clean up this mess?

reply to post by Doc Velocity


i agree. The fact that they keep showing the same small handfull of images of animals is a bit... 'fishy'.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Well, it has happened before to a certain degree. the 130 millions from ixtoc wasnt any small matter, and yet we're still here.

this isnt to downplay the severity, but to point out that those predicting the apocolypse are lacking context.

Originally posted by Karilla
This is yet another example of mankind raping the seas.

Why haven't people been up in arms about the albatross chicks on Midway choking on plastic bags, or the decimation of fish-stocks from over-fishing, or the bleaching of coral, or the polution from run-off and outfall that have turned some coastal areas into aquatic deserts, or the Japanese whaling fleets butchery, or any of a host of other assaults against marine life that we are responsible for?

Our custodianship of this planet has been an unmitigated disaster and I can't escape the feeling that it's time for another species to take a turn.

I feel phyysically sick when I imagine what these creatures are going through.

A lot of us do, and that's the surest evidence that we in particular are not the offenders.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and believe me, environmentalists and protesters, writers and marchers, have protested and written, gotten their own lobbyists and taken a lot of heat and ridicule for their work.

They are the sole reason for the EPA. There is a distinction between business owners and government inspectors or whoever else was involved and the rest of us.

BP and the government did not ask any of us. Neither do they care what we say. People are protesting all over the world at Transocean and BP offices and corporate offices. Google it.

And take heart. It's good to know it's not us, because we are the ones who will be around restoring and taking responsibility for whatever we can, in order to help.