By Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington DC, USA:
Whale deaths linked to BP spill
October 26, 2012
A CACHE of newly uncovered documents from the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – including gruesome photographs of a dead whale – are raising questions about the environmental cost of the disaster and the compensation the oil company will have to pay to set it right.
Documents obtained by Greenpeace under freedom of information provisions show Obama administration officials tightly controlling information about whales and other wildlife caught up in the disaster.
Their plight, especially endangered species such as sea turtles and sperm whales, has enormous financial implications for BP. The oil company asked a judge in New Orleans this week to finalise its $US7.8 billion ($A7.5 billion) settlement for economic damages arising from the spill. But BP still faces claims from the US federal government for environmental damage.
That looming legal struggle was apparently already on the minds of officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when crew aboard the research vessel Pisces spotted a dead sperm whale in mid-June 2010. The discovery was the first confirmed sighting of a dead whale since the blowout on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that April.
Observers on another vessel at the well site in June spotted five whales, including a juvenile, covered in oil.
The discovery of the whale carcass set off a flurry of emails – with repeated instructions from officials to crew aboard the Pisces not to release information or photographs.
The NOAA did put out a press release about the dead whale. But it was edited in a way which appeared to minimise the effects of oil on whales.
Did the government suppress photos and information about the BP oil spill? Here.
Gulf Coast Oilfield Wife, Mother of 6, Cherri Foytlin Chains Self to Keystone XL Pipeyard Gate: here.
Related articles
- Whale deaths linked to BP spill (smh.com.au)
- US downplayed effect of Deepwater on whales, emails reveal (guardian.co.uk)
- Did Oil From The BP Spill Kill This Young Sperm Whale? (huffingtonpost.com)
- Released Docs Reveal Deadly Blow to Whales After BP Disaster (commondreams.org)
- Coverup No More: Shocking Photos and Emails of Dead Wildlife from Gulf of Mexico Spill Emerge (alternet.org)
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Um , their where hundreds of dead starfish along our beach in panama city ” have article , they said it was because of a cold snap “, thousands of dead jelly fish . At this apartment complex i work at part time their are no crabs like their where a year ago it’s crazy and no MSM coverage as far as they where concerned WHEN THE WELL WAS CAPPED SO WAS THE STORY .
Their where rumors at the start of this that they where making the animal corpses disappear and the ones they couldn’t they would sink .
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And don’t forget about all the birds that died of that year … it’s insane HOW MUCH OF THE GULF WAS COVERED IN OIL / including the hard to see stuff that comes before the actual oil , forget what it’s called .
Then just imagine what it would have looked like it they didn’t use the ” corEXIT ” it could ha filled half of the gulf !
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And what about all these tarballs ?
What happens when these tarballs / A.K.A corEXIT , oil and other chemical mixed with sand and dead micro organisms wash ashore onto the beaches and get covered in sand ?
Well the sun heats the sand and the sand melts the tarballs and …. well figure it out .
People may need special towels to bring to the beach cause if they lay on the actual sand they might get a rash or something !
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Thanks you for your comments!
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You are so right to raise all of this
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In 1910, I had quite some blog posts on the BP disaster. Every now and then, one should return to that subject.
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