Millions More Fish Wash Ashore In Gulfport - "Not Yet Known If Oil Spill Was Factor"

[eowyn_of_rohan]

I don't think this was posted - from July 20, WDSU - New Orleans News
http://www.wdsu.com/news/24323278/detail.html

Of course, the oil and dispersants probably have NOTHING to do with this...

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Something besides oil washed ashore along a section of beach in Gulfport this week.

Millions of small dead fish have washed ashore just east of Jones Park. The fish are believed to be menhaden.

Low oxygen levels in the water are typically to blame when large numbers of the tiny fish wash up dead, experts said. Harrison County leaders said it's too soon to tell if the fish-kill is related to the oil spill.

“If it’s oil-related, the BP contractors will have to pick it up,” Harrison County Sand Beach Director Bobby Weaver said. “If not, we’ll dispatch a county crew to come down here and get it."

By early Monday afternoon, sand beach crews started scooping up the dead fish and raking the sand. They were loaded on a dump truck and taken to the landfill.

GREAT! Without testing them for toxicity, they throw the poor fish in a landfill

[Angry Dragon]

1. If low oxogen killed them could they really test for that??

Just asking .........

I know they test for oil on caught seafood by the nose test, but is there a test for corexit in seafood and humans??
I have never heard anything about this.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

2. seems they should be able to test for chemicals that compose Corexit

they didnt bother to do that before whisking them to a landfill. Not that that necessarily matters - I would imagine chemicals would still be present in their bodies, but I'm not sure about that.

[phasma ex machina]

6. Quickly disposing of problems limits legal liability.

The moral of this story seems to be that BP did not kill the fish because the county ended up cleaning up the beach.

A subtextual moral of this story is that small counties lack the clout to effectively prosecute BP.

"Virtue is a sin when devils are in charge."

[eowyn_of_rohan]

10. You Got It - Here is more on that

http://www.wlox.com/global/story.asp?s=12832436

"It might make sense to blame the oil spill for the fish kill or at least consider oil or dispersants in the water for the death of these pogeys. But Harrison County's sand beach director, isn't so sure.

"Probably a red tide. It's possible it could be something oil related. It's hard to say right now. DMR is going to send personnel out here to make that determination and it's important. If it's oil related, then the contractor for BP would be responsible for picking it up. If it's not, then we'll dispatch a county crew down here to get it," said Bobby Weaver.

...By early afternoon, sand beach crews began scooping up the dead fish and raking the sand.

The clean-up proceeded with the cause still unknown. DMR took several fish samples for testing. The test results will take at least a week. The dead fish in the sand were scooped off the beach, loaded onto a dump truck and taken to the landfill."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DMR made NO determination before having evidence taken to landfill, in effect, absolving BP from any blame or responsibility.

also from this article:
Dead menhaden have washed ashore on Harrison County's beach in recent years. But those kills were during fishing season, when nets were torn on a pogey boat. Right now, fishing is closed because of the oil.

[annabanana]

28. BINGO. .the faster the clean-up, the more likely that BP

could be held accountable, it seems.

[spanone]

3. what oil spill? that's like yesterday's bad news....

:sarcasm:

[eowyn_of_rohan]

7. yeah, it is really disturbing to me how this topic seems to be shunned around here

:(

[zabet]

4. As far as testing...

they must have done something because menhaden not fit for bait fishing (live ones) are generally used for fertilizer....at least around here. Why would they landfill them unless they were contaminated to the point of not being used for fertilizer? I say this also because rotten fish make great fertilizer, remember the tale of the Native Americans teaching the settlers to put 2 fish under the seeds they planted?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

5. Excellent point!!

I didn't even think of that :thumbsup:

[GoCubsGo]

14. Why would they send them to the landfill?

The Law of Supply and Demand, perhaps? Maybe nobody is interested in turning them into fertilizer? Maybe nobody wants to transport already-rotting fish to a fertilizer plant miles and miles away? And, considering many fertilizers are petrochemical derivatives, I doubt contamination is an issue.

[zabet]

17. To hide the evidence of contamination....

much like dumping truckloads of sand over tar on the beaches.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. K&R

[PCIntern]

9. It's all part of God's Plan...

Nothing to do with the spill...obviously...there's something much more Important afoot here! God told me whilst I was taking a shower...


:sarcasm:

[indepat]

12. Yeah, the major problems relating to the spill are behind us

:P

[eowyn_of_rohan]

27. Yeah, sure

Pay no mind to that oil leaking from the ocean floor... and come on down - eat fish

[Larry Ogg]

11. Not Yet Known If Oil Spill Was Factor...

Well then, we should remain totally aloof from reality and not jump to any conspiratorial theories or conclusions until the highly paid experts and information managers from BP determine that millions a few fish died do to some unknown factor that is totally unrelated to oil spills or the toxic chemicals used in the clean up...

[GoCubsGo]

13. This reminds me of the alewife die-offs in Lake Michigan in the 1960s

After sea lampreys were introduced to the great lakes, they killed off most of the salmon and lake trout that feed on the alewifes. Without predators eating them, the alewife populations exploded, and when they died, they just washed ashore--by the millions. Just like that photo. Those menhaden, which are very similar to alewifes, could have died as a result of the oil or the dispersant. Or, not. They could have just as likely died from low oxygen. The Gulf has a huge "dead zone", which is a dead zone due to low oxygen. Or, they could have had a population explosion, much like the alewifes in Lake Michigan, and they're now dying off. I prefer to let the facts come in before I jump to any conclusions about what caused this fish kill.

BTW, it only takes one fish to do toxicity tests. They don't need all of them. Meanwhile, I they supposed to leave them all on the beach to rot and stink?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

16. they were supposed to analyze fish BEFORE removing them from beach

To determine whether BP or the city/county was responsible for removing them.

They did NOT do that, and the city/county removed them, which in a sense absolved BP

They COVERED for BP - on their own? By order? From Whom?

[laughingliberal]

15. K & R nt

[onethatcares]

18. totally natural

everyone knows fish sometimes get the blues and jump off underwater canyons like lemmings off of cliffs.

Jeez, you would think no one has ever seen a massive fish suicide before.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

19. The food chain is breaking down. This is really bad news.

That image is haunting.

[SoCalDem]

20. No problem.. they are just resting .. or pining for the fjords

[Hubert Flottz]

21. I'll bet every one of those fish would

"like to have their life back."

[BrklynLiberal]

22. riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. How could the oil spill have ANYTHING to do with this????????

They think we are all idiots...

[D23MIURG23]

23. Hard to imagine how an oil spill could lead to low levels of oxygen in the Gulf...

Its not like this is a predicted effect of microbial degradation of dispersed oil, or anything like that.

:sarcasm:

[Hubert Flottz]

24. Prolly just an Evil Spirit...

you'll have that.

[lonestarnot]

25. What no tourist would eat solvent fish stew?

[Catherina]

26. But it's all safe to eat dontcha know. n/t