Amid all the finger-pointing and apologies, animal life in the Gulf continues to be endangered by long-range fallout of the BP oil disaster.
Birds are the most visible victims. They can be exposed to oil when floating on the water's surface or diving for fish, and oil can not only prevent them from flying, it can also be ingested during preening. Birds’ casualty numbers are high in comparison to those of other recorded animals. On the Deepwater Horizon Response website, the June 27 totals of visibly oiled, collected dead birds were at 309, with nine more birds pending a more thorough evaluation. Eight hundred fifteen visibly oiled birds have been collected alive.
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2010.