2 Years After the BP Oil Spill, Is the Gulf Ecosystem Collapsing?

The BP oil spill started on April 20, 2010. We’ve previously warned that the BP oil spill could severely damage the Gulf ecosystem.

Since then, there are numerous signs that the worst-case scenario may be playing out:

    - New York Times: “Gulf Dolphins Exposed to Oil Are Seriously Ill, Agency Says

    - MSNBC: Gulf shrimp scarce this season (see the Herald Tribune‘s report)

    - Mother Jones: Eyeless shrimp are being found all over the Gulf

    - NYT: Oil Spill Affected Gulf Fish’s Cell Function, Study Finds

    - CBS:Expert: BP spill likely cause of sick Gulf fish (and see the Press Register’s report)

    - “Study confirms oil from Deepwater spill entered food chain|

    -Pensacola News Journal: “Sick fish” archive

    - Agence France Presse: Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews

    - MSNBC: Sea turtle deaths up along Gulf, joining dolphin trend

    - MSNBC:Exclusive: Submarine Dive Finds Oil, Dead Sea Life at Bottom of Gulf of Mexico

    - AP: BP oil spill the culprit for slow death of deep-sea coral, scientists say (and see the Guardian and AFP‘s write ups)

    - A recent report also notes that there are flesh-eating bacteria in tar balls of BP oil washing up on Gulf beaches

“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.”