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Gulf's dolphins pay heavy price for Deepwater oil spill
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Guardian (one of the UK's leading newspapers)


The Guardian (one of the UK's leading newspapers), March 31, 2012
Posted: April 11th, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/31/dolphins-s...

A new study of dolphins living close to the site of North America's worst ever oil spill the BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe two years ago has established serious health problems afflicting the marine mammals. The report, commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], found that many of the 32 dolphins studied were underweight, anaemic and suffering from lung and liver disease. More than 200m gallons of crude oil flowed from the well after a series of explosions on 20 April 2010, which killed 11 workers. The spill contaminated the Gulf of Mexico and its coastline in what President Barack Obama called America's worst environmental disaster. The research follows the publication of several scientific studies into insect populations on the nearby Gulf coastline and into the health of deepwater coral populations, which all suggest that the environmental impact of the five-month long spill may have been far worse than previously appreciated. The study of the dolphins ... followed two years in which the number of dead dolphins found stranded on the coast close to the spill had dramatically increased. Although all but one of the 32 dolphins were still alive when the study ended, lead researcher Lori Schwacke said survival prospects for many were grim. A study of deep ocean corals seven miles from the spill source jointly funded by the NOAA and BP has found dead and dying corals coated "in brown gunk". Chemical analysis of oil found on the dying coral showed that it came from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Note: For other informative major media articles dealing with dolphins and whales, click here.


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