Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web

[sabra]

Source: AP

NEW ORLEANS — Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.

Near the spill site, researchers have documented a massive die-off of pyrosomes — cucumber-shaped, gelatinous organisms fed on by endangered sea turtles.

Along the coast, droplets of oil are being found inside the shells of young crabs that are a mainstay in the diet of fish, turtles and shorebirds.

And at the base of the food web, tiny organisms that consume oil and gas are proliferating.

If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem and imperil the region's multibillion-dollar fishing industry.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJwXzrq3lD7vHJJH4DU8uNjjihPwD9GUQP0G1

[Submariner]

1. The all BP profit dollars have to go to the fishermen

forever, or until the fish return, and any left over dollars need to go into funding an environmental impact study and ALL remediation/mitigation costs.

[ensho]

2. its done - the Gulf will never be like it was

nobody knows what it will become

[highplainsdem]

3. K&R

[deacon_sephiroth]

4. we all saw it coming...

but as the research surfaces and the facts become a quantifiable reality, the heartbreak will last the rest of our lives.

[izquierdista]

5. Get out the plankton cookbook

Because if you want to keep eating Gulf seafood, you're going to have to go down the food chain. Way down.

This oil spill has been manna from heaven for bacteria that can digest hydrocarbons. Unfortunately, they need oxygen to wash down their lunch of petroleum and to do that, they take it out of the water, leaving none for any of the other organisms. I've written before here of the chemistry of oil consumption: CH2 + 3/2 O2 ---> CO2 + H2O. I've also noted that this equates roughly to a requirement of 15 cubic feet of air to metabolize one ounce of crude oil.

Now no one is taking up my suggestion to pump massive amounts of air into the waters of the Gulf to help the bacteria metabolize this oil, so the oxygen is going to have to come from natural processes -- oxygen exchange at the surface. Let's ask the question another way, how much water is going to be deoxygenated by bacteria feeding on one ounce of crude oil? To do that, we need to know the oxygen concentration in the water, which is conveniently charted here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_saturation This map tells us that we would need 5 cubic meters of water to scrape up one mole of dissolved oxygen. So let's continue the calculation:

Amount of oil leaked___________________Amount of water deoxygenated
1 mole (14 gm)---------------------------5 cu. meters
1 ounce (28 gm)--------------------------10 cu. meters
1 gallon (~2800 gm)----------------------1000 cu. meters
1 'barrel'------------------------------42000 cu. meters
5000 barrels (1st estimate of leak)-------210 cu. kilometers (per day)
50000 barrels (closer to the truth)------2100 cu. kilometers (per day)

Since the water column is about 1.5 km at the well, this means that the well is poisoning an area of 1400 sq km at the surface every day, from the sea floor right up to the waves (that's 550 square miles for you non-metric types). When we get to 91 days of oil leak, we will be at 50,000 square miles of deoxygenated water -- that's just about the size of Louisiana.

Of course, the oil is not being metabolized as fast as it is being spewed out. These calculations are just to give you some idea of the remediation required. Imagine if all the life in the state of Louisiana was choked out and only the bacteria were left. No trees, no animals, just bacteria. That is what is happening 90 miles offshore.

[joebaur42]

6. Oil diet

You mean nobody wants to include oil in their diet!?

[FirstLight]

7. i hate that last sentence

as if imperil to the Multi$$$$$-Billion industry is the worst that could happen.

DUH!when an ecosystem has to reshuffle, that can't be good on an ENVIRONMENTAL level. why don't they talk about THAT?

I keep saying this...the phytoplankton die-off is not just about the food chain, they process co2 and o2 an a mass scale too... you wanna talk about dead zones? The loss of CO2 capture and O2 production have a far reaching impact on the oceans AND atmosphere.

the repurcussions on the web of life - including humans - goes deeper than fishing.

[ensho]

8. true

nt

[Turborama]

10. Yep, a perfect example of how there are two totally different paradigms at work here

The economic paradigm versus the ecological.

Which one is blindly worshipping Mammon and which one is concerned about the survival of the millions of different species on this planet, including our own?

[nalnn]

9. Inland

I'm sure you guys realize this, but I'll state it anyway: The effects on the ecosystem will be wide-ranging. This will disrupt the mammalian, avian as well as aquatic life far inland from the coast. So many earthlings of all shapes and sizes either make their food runs to the sea or eat something that does.

So sad. And the squirrels had just been starting to really get going again at my place this year.

[CountAllVotes]

11. it is such a sad/depressing situation

I think many know this and many refuse to believe it. However, I believe the need for a massive exodus will occur from the gulf as it is rapidly becoming uninhabitable. :(

Welcome to the DU btw. :hi: that is ...

:kick: