Crabs provide evidence oil tainting Gulf food web

[kpete]

Source: Associated Press

Crabs provide evidence oil tainting Gulf food web

By JOHN FLESHER (AP) – 9 hours ago

BARATARIA, La. — To assess how heavy a blow the BP oil spill has dealt the Gulf of Mexico, researchers are closely watching a staple of the seafood industry and primary indicator of the ecosystem's health: the blue crab.

Weeks ago, before engineers pumped in mud and cement to plug the gusher, scientists began finding specks of oil in crab larvae plucked from waters across the Gulf coast.

The government said last week that three-quarters of the spilled oil has been removed or naturally dissipated from the water. But the crab larvae discovery was an ominous sign that crude had already infiltrated the Gulf's vast food web — and could affect it for years to come.

"It would suggest the oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water," said Bob Thomas, a biologist at Loyola University in New Orleans. "Something likely will eat those oiled larvae ... and then that animal will be eaten by something bigger and so on."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbSfBPgY2bRbj5q9JcYoh9KMizwAD9HFSMP00

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more:
BP oil is now turning up under the shells of post-larval blue crabs all across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Nearly all the crab larvae collected to date by researchers, from Grand Isle, Louisiana all the way over to Pensacola, Florida, have oil under their shells. Further analysis is showing that the crabs likely also contain BP’s Corexit dispersant.
http://www.truth-out.org/out-sight-out-mind-even-when-its-not-out-sight62137

[madrchsod]

1. what? i thought the seafood was just okie-dokie

gee who do ya believe..them scientists or your nose?

[JDPriestly]

21. I do not plan to touch any seafood or fish from the Gulf if I can help it.

You won't be able to tell whether the food is safe just by looking at it. That's what I fear.

[emilyg]

37. On ABC just now - they

interviwed a native from La. - he said he wouldn't eat it.

[Chulanowa]

2. Fucking duh? n/t

[xultar]

3. +100 million gazillion brazillion trillion million billion

[dipsydoodle]

8. Graham's number is somewhat larger than that

In fact nothing exceeds it. It's also shorter to write.

[indepat]

12. times (x) a quadrillion quintillion to the nth power: that's about what all the bullshit adds up to

:P

[INdemo]

17. Well yes..And to think the Obama administration is going along with this BS

Just how stupid do these administration officials think we are?..Apparently pretty stupid

[me b zola]

43. Shhh, the administration says critics from the left ought to be drug tested

Doesn't that make you want to have a Gulf crab boil?

[dipsydoodle]

25. Your still an infinate number away

from Graham's number.

[indepat]

27. In any event, these numbers are pretty big

:P

[zonkers]

19. If insulting our intelligence were a criminal offense, everyone at BP would get the electric chair.

[BrklynLiberal]

40. Absolutely!

[Downwinder]

4. Oiled crab. n/t

[formercia]

5. Didn't you know that the Oil just disappeared?

..right into the fucking food chain. Let's see, who is at the top of the food chain?

[Yeahyeah]

6. Bullshit.That oil's on Mars by now.

[valerief]

9. Ha! Yeah, with all the PBDEs, PCBs, dioxins, pesticides, and melamine "not"

in our seafood.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/09/toxic-seafood-chemicals-t_n_669105.html#s122172

[GReedDiamond]

50. Oil on Mars...

...it's a fact!

First link under the picture...mp3 file, "Oil on Mars":

http://www.freshwidow.com/music.html

[primavera]

51. Now don't go sounding like some conspiracy theorist

BP and the government assure us that the oil has disappeared into a parallel dimension through a wrinkle in the time space continuum, certainly that's a plausible enough explanation for us ignorant Amurikans.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Gumbo on the White House Menu!

Pass the oil . . .

[Doremus]

10. Can't be. The oil has been dispersed into oblivion. Everything is wonderful...

la la la

no problems here, move along, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain ....


la la la


choke choke cough ... thud.

[xchrom]

11. I thought the oil evaporated and posed little threat

To the ever so big and ever so resiliant gulf?

All the sensible people say so.

[dipsydoodle]

24. You know that isn't the case - maybe half the truth

However - only time will tell the extent to which contaminants have continued to enter the crabs i this an other examples. Frequent tests are what are needed as opposed to pure supposition as what may happen over time.

[xchrom]

28. What you can bet is this -- the real damage done to

The gulf will leave people - even the sensible ones - reeling.

[dipsydoodle]

34. There must be some historic information on the affect

on marine life over some years of Ixtoc. Odd that nobody's published that for comparison. :shrug:

[xchrom]

36. I don't think it was ever done there or the excon Valdez.

I don't think a number of soil immunogenicity
Reports were done after 911.

At least not by the EPA.

I haven't seen any -- maybe they're there.

[primavera]

52. Preferably frequent tests that aren't actively obstructed...

... by BP and by our own beloved Democratic administration.

[progressoid]

30. Yep, it's all cleaned up.

Let's go swimming and shrimping!

[burning rain]

13. I love the people checking Gulf seafood by sniffing it...

Like something out of the Middle Ages.

[Downwinder]

15. The smell test. Ought to use it on other foods, too.

[Divine Discontent]

14. the WH reported to the press, that O's birthday party served shrimp from the Gulf.

[joeybee12]

16. Did anyone ask if it was shrimp from the Gulf frozen several months ago?

Probably not, but I bet that's what it was.

[CountAllVotes]

32. correct

many of the stores are selling shrimp caught before the spill.

This place was smart - bought 5X the normal amount. It is now selling for about 35% more however.

cajungrocer.com ...

:dem:

[BonnieJW]

45. I saw an interview with one of the Gulf fisherman.

He was very concerned about greanlighting the fish from the Gulf so soon. He feared that once people started getting sick from the fish, the industry would be doomed forever.

[Divine Discontent]

49. oh, that's not a good thing.....

[w4rma]

18. "the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State."

"And meanwhile he's starvin', 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State."

[Uncle Joe]

20. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[sofa king]

22. The oil is being "dispersed" among the crab population.

It will eventually evaporate, once the crabs are caught and their carapaces are removed.

[Kermitt Gribble]

23. But..but...but.....

this can't be true! The BPUSGovt wouldn't lie to us!?!?!? Evaporation! Micro-biotic organisms unique to the Gulf! They said everything is fine!

[L0oniX]

26. But but but I thought the oil was gone.

[noisemaker]

33. PLENTY OF OIL just off Dauphin Island

Plenty of oil is still in the gulf, near shorelines, and stressing wildlife! See pictures and various posts at <a href="http://umpteenhorizons.org/wordpress/2010/08/04/i-am-really-mad-no-more-oil-open-your-eyes/">Umpteen Horizons</a>.

[defendandprotect]

29. What a shocking surprise . . . NOT!!

[marions ghost]

31. Gulf Seafood

:thumbsdown:

They're going to let us be BP's guinea pigs.

[katty]

35. yes, it is called "cause and effect", the food chain of LIFE - BP

and their legions of liars want us to NOW believe there is no 'cause and effect' there is NO FOOD CHAIN.

[emsimon33]

38. Another reason to eat vegan!

[Paulie]

39. Yes! Though what about the fish and shrimp meal?

..and crab meal used as fertilizer on the veggies? Not sure if they list petroleum on the analysis label. Oh dear. Better switch to grass fed beef, unless it's from around the Kalamazoo river in Michigan. Oh dear.

[BrklynLiberal]

41. Anyone who is surprised at this finding must be living on a parallel plane of reality.

[No Elephants]

42. Crabs. Pfffft. They NEVER look forward.

[CreekDog]

44. What. what? I'm so surprised none of the usual apologists for the spill are here!

:eyes:

[Catherina]

47. Don't hold your breath either n/t

[feslen]

46. yum! I love those well-oiled crabs!

*sarcasm*

[nalnn]

48. go on living

I wonder what the life span of a crab is? How about the other forms of sea life. How many generations of fish will this stuff keep showing up in?

It makes me quite sad to say it, but I don't think that I nor my family will be eating anything from the Gulf for a long while. I guess any fish I get will have to come from the lake.

Still disturbing to me that the only life we saw in the Gulf when we took our little field trip the other day were the hundreds and hundreds of jelly fish. Of course we were only on the beach. I cannot speak to what it is like further out.