The deep sea inhabitants

Rising acidity of ocean waters will wipe out the world’s coral reefs and could devastate crab, scallops and other creatures that build shells from calcium compounds in ocean waters. Available figures showed that the pH balance of ocean waters has tilted toward acid in the past 20 years. That’s nearly as much as it did in the previous 200 years. Research showed changes in mollusks, crustaceans and even fish, including decreasing shell-building and creature size. Available proof about the impacts of global climate change and acidification show that coral reefs will actually melt in this century if current rates of acidification continue. Ocean acidification is caused by atmospheric carbon dissolving in the oceans. Ocean acidity has been rising since the beginning of the industrial revolution, as factories, cars and even cows have pumped out increasing amounts of carbon dioxide. About 30% of carbon released into the atmosphere ends up in the oceans. Reduced carbon output is the only solution to ocean acidification (as well as rising sea levels). At present it cannot adequately be predicted how marine ecosystems as a whole will respond to ocean acidification but the impact will be quite eminent.

The biggest ever?

The Deepwater Horizon disaster is confirmed as the biggest ever accidental release of oil into the oceans. What is seen in the news these days,” three-quarters of the 4.9 million barrels leaked into the Gulf waters has already vanished from the area" and "only a quarter of the oil from the BP well remains and that it is degrading quickly", all seem so manipulated to please the listener.

But that still leaves more than a million barrels at sea. In a context, there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Dispersant are being added to break down oil for microbial degradation but the cost is paid in clogged wads of crude that sink to the sea floor.

The impact of the deep water deployment is definitely an unknown unknown, as it has never been used on anything like this scale before. Impacts of the oil spills two decades ago is still being counted and this being the biggest spill ever, even a slight reckoning will have to wait until the first wintering birds have returned, to see how much oil is present to greet them.

With the nature of the oil spill changing, the need to monitor the active, visible spill is shifting towards a need to restore and improve the impacted wildlife habitat.

The Mumbai spill although has stopped nothing can be told of its future impact either.

Time lens can alone tell the future impacts. No matter what is done to ensure clean up, oil will linger in the environment for a long long time...

Safe to say "aftermath" yet?

It was just over a month or two that the massive BP spill had its take on the sea life and in no time it’s the China and the recent Mumbai oil spill taking turns to eat up sea life. It’s like a never ending disaster.

Although the magnitude of the BP spill has subsided following the recent measures taken, it’s predicted that its effects could last for decades, the two most affected species being the Kemp Ridley's turtles and the Atlantic blue-fin tuna. Some 1,020 sea turtles were caught up in the spill, according to figures, an ominous number for an endangered species. Wildlife officials collected 177 sea turtles last week, more than that in the first two months of the spill and a sizeable share of the 1,020 captured since the spill began more than four months ago. Some 517 of that total number were dead and 440 were covered in oil, according to figures maintained the Deep water Horizon response team. This is like the wholesale slaughter of turtles, dolphins, pelicans, hermit crab and other marine life readily visible to human eye.

Not only has this environment catastrophe affected the marine creatures, this oil slick has reached many shores nearby, whipping through the waves and has proved a hassle to the residents there with its strong smell which leads to dizziness and burning sensation in the nostrils.

Adding to this was the China oil spill and the recent Mumbai one. China is struggling to clean up and keep offshore what has been described as the country's worst oil spill, a fortnight after a fire at an oil depot caused crude to leak into the sea for several days.

Mumbai spill being caused due to the collision between two vessels has already spilled around 80 tonnes of oil into the waters. It is believed that nearly 3 tonnes of oil is seeping into the sea every hour. Scores of aquatic species and sea birds have been found dead along the Mumbai coast in the past week. As the spill was very near the harbor many mangroves in the shore have all been flooded with sticky oil.

Amid the clouds of despair and gloom too shines a ray of hope. Animal lovers in Mumbai seem to have braved their way through the toxic waters to save hundreds of seabirds and animals.

BP burning sea turtles alive?

According to certain rescue team captains working near the oil spill site, BP in its attempt to burn off the spilled oil is incinerating endangered sea turtles.

Although sea turtles are known to be excellent swimmers turtles in the thickest oil get stuck or trapped. Thanks to the captain and the biologists who were capturing and rescuing heavily oiled turtles near a burn site but then they claimed that when their boat was trying to reach animals trapped in the burn area they were being chased away by the boats involved in the burn.

BP on the other side says that the commanders handling the burns were under orders to halt the operation if turtles or other marine animals are spotted in the vicinity, but turtles, baby turtles in particular are hard to spot.

These turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act which imposes fines of up to $50,000 per turtle killed but the suspect is that BP is letting these turtles be burnt alive because that way no one would ever know how many of these were actually killed.

Certain evidences also claim that BP has hired rescue teams to lookout for turtles in their burn site. Beyond all criticisms and crap if BP is really concerned about the sea turtles and other animals near the burn sites and taking proper measures to save them its a matter of ecstasy. If not it should at least let voluntary rescue teams to save these rare Kemp's Ridley sea turtles without shooing their ships away.

The Deadly BP oil spill and its take:

Dead Mammals: 47

Oiled but alive: 1

Cleaned and released: 1

Dead Birds: 957

Oiled but alive: 724

Cleaned and released: 97

Dead Sea Turtles: 387

Oiled but alive: 82

Cleaned and released: 3

Facing the hooks of death