USA: Toll of dead and injured birds and marine animals from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to is climb

Record ID: 343520

  • Title: USA: Toll of dead and injured birds and marine animals from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to is climb
  • Date: 6th June 2010
  • Summary: QUEEN BESS ISLAND, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 5, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OILED PELICAN RESCUE WORKERS IN BOAT VARIOUS OIL WITH BOOM IN WATER BIRDS ON OIL COVERED ROCKS BIRD ON ROCK WITH OIL RESCUE WORKER IN BOAT WITH OILED BIRDS ON ROCKS VARIOUS OILED BIRDS ON ROCKS RESCUE BOAT WITH BOOM AND WATER BIRDS AND OIL COVERED BOOM PELICANS FLYING BIRDS FLYING BIRD
  • Embargoed: 21st June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVAQKV8FX3CYS0CKEJV4FUN2HP9
  • Story Text: Oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill was washing up on the shoreline of Queen Bess Island, Louisiana on Saturday (June 5), impacting brown pelicans, laughing gulls, turns and other birds nesting on the island about three miles east of Grand Isle.
    Some birds have been heavily oiled and many stand on oily rocks after strong winds and bad weather has been pushing oil over the booms and into the area known primarily as a brown pelican rookery.
    One brown pelican, drenched in oil, was left struggling to move in a pool of oil between the shoreline and boom. The pelican tried unsuccessfully to cross the boom and swim to open water. Instead, it sat lethargically, weighed down by its oil soaked feathers.
    At midday on Saturday, about five rescue boats with animal specialists from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and the International Bird Rescue Research Center were seen working to collect oiled birds around the island.
    The International Bird Rescue Research Center has been contracted by BP.
    Home to thousands of birds, Queen Bess Island is a natural nesting ground, especially for Louisiana's state bird, the brown pelican, which was only removed from the endangered species list in 2009.
    As of noon June 5, 177 birds have been collected alive and 547 birds have been collected dead in the Gulf region since oil began leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
    The spill has been flowing since April 20, when an explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig sank the drilling platform and killed 11 workers. US government scientists estimate between 12,000-19,000 barrels of oil a day had been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, creating a disaster about twice the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.
    BP has lost more than a third of its market value, or about $67 billion (46 billion pounds), since the crisis began.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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