This video from the USA is called BP Oil Spill Footage, Save the Birds.
From the Environment News Service:
Conservationists Sue BP on Behalf of Gulf of Mexico Wildlife
WASHINGTON, DC, October 20, 2010 – Three conservation groups today filed a lawsuit against oil giant BP under the Endangered Species Act for they claim is the “ongoing unlawful harm or killing of endangered and threatened wildlife” caused by the company‘s Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.
The lawsuit was filed on the six month anniversary of the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig leased by BP that killed 11 crewmen, injured 17 others and set off the largest oil spill in history. The spill was finally capped on July 15, but only after the damaged wellhead released 4.9 million barrels of oil, 4.1 million barrels of which went into gulf waters.
“The harmful effects of the BP oil well blowout on endangered and threatened wildlife will continue for many years,” said Gregory Buppert, attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, one of the plaintiff groups. “Through this lawsuit, we ask the court to compel BP to provide the resources necessary to ensure imperiled species in the Gulf recover from this disaster.”
At least 27 endangered or threatened animal species are known to inhabit the gulf, including five species of endangered sea turtles, four species of endangered whales, threatened and endangered birds and Florida manatees. Click here for a NOAA list of endangered or threatened gulf species.
Among the concerns for gulf wildlife are immediate effects of exposure to oil and chemicals as well as long-term effects on reproduction and future generations and potential domino effects through the gulf’s food chain.
The groups point to testimony during the President’s National Oil Spill Commission on September 27, revealed that more than 50 percent of the total discharge of oil from the Deepwater Horizon remains in the gulf ecosystem, much of it in coastal and marine sediments.
Nurse comments on victims of BP dispersants: ‘toxified people who have been chemically poisoned’: here.
The plaintiff groups are asking the court to order BP to mitigate the ongoing harm from the oil disaster to endangered and threatened wildlife that are part of the web of life in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Restitution for the harm done by BP to sensitive wildlife and their habitat will help protect the Gulf ecosystem and rich web of life upon which so many depend,” said Catherine Wannamaker, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
“From nesting birds on gulf beaches to turtles and sperm whales in offshore waters, an entire ecosystem is damaged,” said Wannamaker, demanding that BP be compelled “to take steps to restore the gulf’s health for current and future generations.”
The cumulative oil-slick footprint from the Deepwater Horizon spill covered thousands of square miles in the Gulf of Mexico. At least 650 miles of shoreline has been impacted by oil, including more than 380 miles in Louisiana, 110 miles in Mississippi, 75 miles in Alabama and 90 miles in Florida.
“Having spent nearly 40 years studying aquatic ecosystems, I know that they are made up of a complex interrelated and diverse assemblage of organisms, whose collective health depends upon each part to survive as a whole,” said Patrick Rose, aquatic biologist and executive director of Save the Manatee Club.
“Having been dealt such an unprecedented insult from the oil, dispersants, and other byproducts of the clean-up effort, we must insist that the gulf ecosystem is both restored and protected against future threats,” Rose said.
The plaintiffs – Defenders of Wildlife, the Gulf Restoration Network and Save the Manatee Club – are represented by lawyers from Defenders of Wildlife, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Eric Glitzenstein of the law firm Meyer Glitzenstein and Crystal.
“The long-term effects of the oil spill on life in and around the gulf remain to be seen, from tiny phytoplankton at the base of the food chain to blue crab, oysters, and fish caught and consumed by our families and communities,” said Wannamaker, who opposes the Obama administration’s action last week to lift the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling.
What are your thoughts on the BP oil spill disaster?
What facts are being hidden by Obama admin on gulf oil spill? Watch interview here.
Fishermen Report Louisiana Bays Filled With Oil: here.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2010) — Researchers from Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment have received a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on piping plovers, shorebirds that have been listed as threatened since 1986: here.
October 20 marked the six-month anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers and led to worst oil spill in history: here.
Guardian: BP and Halliburton knew of flaws in cement used on Gulf well: here.
A White House commission investigating the Deepwater Horizon well disaster has alleged that BP and US contractor Halliburton knew that the cement mixture designed to seal BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico was unstable: here.
May 2011: A second wave of mysterious [brown] pelican injuries and deaths has occurred in the past several weeks in North Carolina, America, following earlier incidents about six months that killed 250 of the endangered birds: here.
Dismantling unused oil rigs could boost Louisiana’s artificial reef program: here.
Amazing aerial photo of manatees clustered for warmth at Florida Power and Light Canaveral plant: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Thursday, 21 October 2010 7:00AM
For the first time Louisiana turtles go back home
Don Ames Reporting
The Audubon Nature Institute, NOAA, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries today conduct the first sea turtle release of its kind since the BP oil spill started.
Although a number of rescued turtles have already been released in Florida, this is the first release off Louisiana’s coast.
“It’s a very big statement that the Gulf of Mexico is becoming healthy again,” says Meghan Calhoun, Public Relations Manager for the Audubon Nature Institute.
“These sea turtles have survived, and they’re healthy and they get to go back home,” Calhoun says.
Home is about 50 miles off the coast of Grand Isle, where the turtles were rescued from areas of heavily oil-stricken sargasm grass, between 30 and 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
Listen to Don Ames’ conversation with Calhoun:
“They had oil in their eyes, in their mouths…just every little nook and cranny of these turtles was covered with oil,” says Calhoun.
Now, she says both the turtles and their home in the Gulf appear healthy.
“These turtles are the smallest of the small sea turtles that have come through the Audubon Nature Institute Sea Turtle Rehab Center. And, at this particular stage in these sea turtle’s lives, they live in the sargasm grass. So their whole home is there. That’s where they eat, that’s where they grow up. So, to return them to the exact spot, where it’s a healthy environment for them and where they belong off the coast of Louisiana…that’s what makes it so special,” she says.
Thirty-one turtles are being released today.
The Audubon Nature Institute has cared for almost 200 oil-affected sea turtles in the last 6 months.
http://www.wwl.com/For-the-first-time-Louisiana-turtles-go-back-home/8403000
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28 Oct, 2010, 11.14AM IST,AGENCIES
Gulf oil disaster toll: 6,000 birds, 600 turtles
WASHINGTON: Among the saddest images from BP Plc’s three-month-long oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico were those of oil-slicked birds struggling to survive. US officials said preliminary information showed the disaster may have killed up to 6,104 birds and 609 turtles.
But on the positive side, the figures showed that more than 14,000 turtle hatchlings emerged from nests that were relocated to beaches away from the oil spill.
The report was issued Wednesday by the unified command that oversaw efforts to stop the oil flowing from the Deepwater Horizon well in the US Gulf of Mexico. The well gushed from April to July, washing oil into fragile wetlands during prime pelican nesting season, devastating the shrimp harvest and delivering economic ruin along four Gulf coast states.
In July, the well was provisionally capped. It was finally sealed with cement in September.
The report was based on input from wildlife collection centres, government departments and other sources, but officials warned that the figures reflected “only the initial, field-level, evaluation”.
More investigation was needed and not all of the injured and dead wildlife were “necessarily” caused by the BP spill, officials said.
Birds were the hardest hit by the spill. The dead bodies collected far outnumbered the number of live rescues, which were put at 2,079. After being cleaned up and rehabilitated, 1,246 birds have been released to date.
Turtles appeared to have a better chance of survival. Rescue workers collected 535 turtles compared to the 609 found dead. In addition, workers transported 278 nests to pristine beaches, from which 14,676 hatchlings have emerged.
Nine mammals, including dolphins, were rescued alive, while 100 were found dead.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Gulf-oil-disaster-toll-6000-birds-600-turtles/articleshow/6827133.cms
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Halliburton Cited By Oil Spill Commission For Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Blowout
DINA CAPPIELLO | 10/28/10 04:08 PM | AP
WASHINGTON — Tests performed before the deadly blowout of BP’s oil well in the Gulf of Mexico should have raised doubts about the cement used to seal the well, but the company and its cementing contractor used it anyway, investigators with the president’s oil spill commission said Thursday.
It’s the first finding from the commission looking into the causes of the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. And it appears to conflict with statements made by Halliburton Co., which has said its tests showed the cement mix was stable. The company instead has said BP’s well design and operations are responsible for the disaster.
The cement mix’s failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been identified by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident.
BP and Halliburton decided to use a foam slurry created by injecting nitrogen into cement to secure the bottom of the well, a decision outside experts have criticized.
The panel says that of four tests done in February and April by Halliburton, only one – the last – showed the mix would hold. But the results of that single successful test were not shared with BP, and may not have reached Halliburton, before the cement was pumped, according to a letter sent to commissioners Thursday by chief investigative counsel Fred H. Bartlit, Jr.
BP had in hand at the time of the blowout the results of only one of the tests – a February analysis sent to BP by Halliburton in a March 8 e-mail that indicated the cement could fail. The slurry tested in that case was a slightly different blend, and assumed a slightly different well design, but there is no indication that Halliburton flagged the problem for BP, or that BP had concerns, the letter says.
“Halliburton (and perhaps BP) should have considered redesigning the foam slurry before pumping it at the Macondo well,” Bartlit writes.
Independent tests conducted for the commission by Chevron on a nearly identical mixture were also released Thursday. The results conclude the cement mix was unstable, raising questions about the validity of Halliburton’s final test.
BP, as part of its internal investigation, also conducted tests that showed the cement mix was flawed, but its analysis was criticized by Halliburton, which said it was not the correct formula. The company also said the testing Halliburton did on the cement was incomplete.
By contrast, the commission obtained proprietary additives from Halliburton as well as a recipe to recreate the slurry that was used on the well.
A spokeswoman for Halliburton said the company was reviewing the findings and would have a response later Thursday.
In testimony before the joint Coast Guard-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management investigative panel, Halliburton engineer Jesse Gagliano, when asked if he would pour the same cement again, said he would.
“I am comfortable with the slurry design,” he said.
The independent investigators do not address other decisions that could have contributed to the cement’s failure, such as BP’s decision to use fewer centralizers than recommended by Halliburton. Centralizers make sure the well’s piping is centered inside the well so the cement bonds correctly. BP has also been criticized for not performing a cement bond long, a test that checks after the cement is pumped down whether it is secure. There are also questions about whether BP pumped down enough cement to seal off the bottom of the well, which was located more than three miles below sea level.
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Online:
Presidential Oil Spill Commission: http://www.oilspillcommission.gov
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