Deformities in Gulf Seafood Found After BP Oil Spill
49 replies, posted
[img]http://i.imgur.com/zbabN.jpg[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/s2Fau.jpg[/img]
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[quote][b]New Orleans, LA - "The fishermen have never seen anything like this," Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. "And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I've never seen anything like this either."[/b]
Dr Cowan, with Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences started hearing about fish with sores and lesions from fishermen in November 2010.
Cowan's findings replicate those of others living along vast areas of the Gulf Coast that have been impacted by BP's oil and dispersants.
[b]Gulf of Mexico fishermen, scientists and seafood processors have told Al Jazeera they are finding disturbing numbers of mutated shrimp, crab and fish that they believe are deformed by chemicals released during BP's 2010 oil disaster.[/b]
Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: [b]horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp - and interviewees' fingers point towards BP's oil pollution disaster as being the cause.[/b]
[b]Eyeless shrimp[/b]
Tracy Kuhns and her husband Mike Roberts, commercial fishers from Barataria, Louisiana, are finding eyeless shrimp.
[b]"At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these,"[/b] Kuhns told Al Jazeera while showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.
[b]According to Kuhns, at least 50 per cent of the shrimp caught in that period in Barataria Bay, a popular shrimping area that was heavily impacted by BP's oil and dispersants, were eyeless. Kuhns added: "Disturbingly, not only do the shrimp lack eyes, they even lack eye sockets."[/b][/quote]
More in the source: [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html[/url]
Not out of the clear yet. This disaster is just beginning.
This whole BP mess is incredibly frustrating.
Well we fucked up.
Huzzah us!
That is really disturbing, but not too surprising. Are they safe to eat?
[QUOTE=Penultimate;35631753]That is really disturbing, but not too surprising. Are they safe to eat?[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure we'll be 100% certain that they are. We've been eating them for two years now. Not sure if there's been any illnesses from the shrimp that appear to be healthy.
This is disastrous. Yet nature is able to fix itself by natural selection in this case. But things like this shouldn't happen.
If I lived near the gulf I would be avoiding seafood right now.
This pisses me the fuck off, this is mass scale rape of the fucking aquatic life in the gulf. It was probably the chemicals they added to make the water seem clear. Add on top of this aquatic dead zones due to fertilizers and the poisoning of the earth with our synthetic chemicals. The gulf is going to be devoid of fucking life other then algae.
[editline]19th April 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=KILLTHIS;35632000]This is disastrous. Yet nature is able to fix itself by natural selection in this case. But things like this shouldn't happen.[/QUOTE] How the hell does natural selection fix this? It's fucking contaminated.
The trouble with environmental disasters is that once the spill/leak/outbreak/meltdown has been contained, everyone stops worrying, but it is things like this that go to show the real impact.
The worst stuff happens later on.
[QUOTE=ryasnack1;35632725]This pisses me the fuck off, this is mass scale rape of the fucking aquatic life in the gulf. It was probably the chemicals they added to make the water seem clear. Add on top of this aquatic dead zones due to fertilizers and the poisoning of the earth with our synthetic chemicals. The gulf is going to be devoid of fucking life other then algae. [editline]19th April 2012[/editline] How the hell does natural selection fix this? It's fucking contaminated.[/QUOTE]
You underestimate the power of life
It was two years ago holy shit?
But this is awful, BP should be fined up the shitter and all the money should go to fixing this.
[QUOTE]
Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp - and interviewees' fingers point towards BP's oil pollution disaster as being the cause.[/QUOTE]
Aw man, that's terrible.
[QUOTE=Tacosheller;35632756]You underestimate the power of life[/QUOTE]
How does natural selection fix an unbalanced contaminated ecosystem? I think you overestimate the power of life. Yes they find life in extraordinary places but these creatures will not live as well as a creature in a pristine ecosystem. The thing is we fucked them and fucked them hard with oil, chemicals, and fertilizers that deplete the oxygen that fish need to live.
[QUOTE=ryasnack1;35632725] How the hell does natural selection fix this? It's fucking contaminated.[/QUOTE]
Individuals with hindering mutations die, and the following generations have relatively better-adapted individuals. That's it
[QUOTE=Ricool06;35632743]The trouble with environmental disasters is that once the spill/leak/outbreak/meltdown has been contained, everyone stops worrying, but it is things like this that go to show the real impact.
The worst stuff happens later on.[/QUOTE]
and then with a case like this it seems at the end of the day people only care if the shrimps are safe to eat, they couldn't care less if they're born with mutations or about any of these fish that are being fucked up because of BP
[QUOTE=Jorori;35632816]Individuals with hindering mutations die, and the following generations have relatively better-adapted individuals. That's it[/QUOTE] The mutations are caused by exposure to oil and poisons. They are not being selected individually, it is a cause and affect, not that some have better tolerances. It is their environment which is causing the mutations!
[QUOTE=ryasnack1;35632725]
[editline]19th April 2012[/editline]
How the hell does natural selection fix this? It's fucking contaminated.[/QUOTE]
They'll do the same thing they'd have done of a vent on the ocean floor opened up and poured magma up into the ocean - they'll adapt. The creatures that feed off of these mutated creatures will also adapt, and so on and so forth until everything is more or less in balance again.
Although that doesn't excuse us for being the most dickhead species around.
[QUOTE=Gareth;35632858]and then with a case like this it seems at the end of the day people only care if the shrimps are safe to eat, they couldn't care less if they're born with mutations or about any of these fish that are being fucked up because of BP[/QUOTE] That is absolutely true and even evident in this thread. I hope with all my heart the Earths natural processes and cycles beat this ecological disaster because humans sure as hell won't stop what theyre doing to the ecosystem.
[QUOTE=Jorori;35632816]Individuals with hindering mutations die, and the following generations have relatively better-adapted individuals. That's it[/QUOTE]
That takes thousands of years, not much help to the fishing industry.
[QUOTE=Maloof?;35632874]They'll do the same thing they'd have done of a vent on the ocean floor opened up and poured magma up into the ocean - they'll adapt. The creatures that feed off of these mutated creatures will also adapt, and so on and so forth until everything is more or less in balance again. Although that doesn't excuse us for being the most dickhead species around.[/QUOTE] I like your example and you are exactly right about that but the difference between that and what has happened lies in the synthetic chemicals used to ease the disaster, plus the oil's own affect on biological life in the ocean.
[QUOTE=Rents;35632893]That takes thousands of years, not much help to the fishing industry.[/QUOTE]
Yes, what I said doesn't mean we should dismiss the problem. We don't know how much time it will take for us or nature itself to get everything in order again, but the best we can do right now is clean as much mess as we can and more important, prevent things like this from happening again. I know I might sound hope/careless, but we are not mess-cleaning magicians either
The capitalization in the thread title made confused me for a bit.
I guess the fish won't be suing any time soon.
[QUOTE=ryasnack1;35632725]How the hell does natural selection fix this? It's fucking contaminated.[/QUOTE]
Easily. The ones that can't survive die off and the ones that can live. In this case, the shrimp that can survive the chemicals and oil without horrific deformity will carry on. It's probably an extreme minority, but hey, weirder shit has happened. (This is just my uneducated opinion, however.)
Like Tacosheller said, you shouldn't underestimate the power of life.
[QUOTE=ryasnack1;35632725]
How the hell does natural selection fix this? It's fucking contaminated.[/QUOTE]
No eyes => no mating => no offspring => shrimps without eyes die off
As for the ones exposed to oil, if you knew anything about evolution and adaptation you'd know that changes to an organism throughout its life does not get carried on to its offspring, unless they are also exposed to the same treatment I.E if you cut off your arm and you have a kid, it will still be born with 2 arms
Therefore, when the oil disperses, these effects should go away and the ones that have been negatively effected will die off through the above natural selection process
Give it tens of years and everything will be back to normal
[editline]19th April 2012[/editline]
Heck we might even end up with shark-eating super shrimps
[QUOTE=Trumple;35633696]No eyes => no mating => no offspring => shrimps without eyes die off
As for the ones exposed to oil, if you knew anything about evolution and adaptation you'd know that changes to an organism throughout its life does not get carried on to its offspring, unless they are also exposed to the same treatment I.E if you cut off your arm and you have a kid, it will still be born with 2 arms
Therefore, when the oil disperses, these effects should go away and the ones that have been negatively effected will die off through the above natural selection process
Give it tens of years and everything will be back to normal
[editline]19th April 2012[/editline]
Heck we might even end up with shark-eating super shrimps[/QUOTE]
This assuming the shrimp use their eyes in order to find mates. If they happen to use pheromones or something similar, then they'll still be able to mate. Also, if a being is born with birth defects and these defects are caused by genetic issues, these can be passed on to any offspring.
[QUOTE=Raptor_Girl;35633865]This assuming the shrimp use their eyes in order to find mates. If they happen to use pheromones or something similar, then they'll still be able to mate. Also, if a being is born with birth defects and these defects are caused by genetic issues, these can be passed on to any offspring.[/QUOTE]
Well, if they don't need eyes for anything then it is not a problem and there is nothing to worry about.
If they do need their eyes for mating/finding food/navigating then this will obviously negatively impact them and they will die off through natural selection, allowing the normal ones to live on and prosper. Either way, it's no problem
[QUOTE=Trumple;35633929]Well, if they don't need eyes for anything then it is not a problem and there is nothing to worry about.
If they do need their eyes for mating/finding food/navigating then this will obviously negatively impact them and they will die off through natural selection. Either way, it's no problem[/QUOTE]
It's actually a pretty big problem. Shrimp are not only important scavengers, they're also at the lower end of the food chain. With them showing deformities, they could easily have a build up of whatever substance is causing them to be deformed. Which could harm organisms higher up on the food chain. Similar to fish and mercury.
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