BP May Be Burning Sea Turtles Alive

[ElsewheresDaughter]

http://bigthink.com/ideas/20636



BP has been using controlled burns to limit the spread of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. In the process they are burning much of what wildlife remains in the area alive. In particular, conservationists say that sea turtles—including the endangered Kemp’s Ridley—are being caught in burns. "Once the turtles are in there, they can’t get out," Mike Ellis, a boat captain involved in the rescue, told conservation biologist Catherine Craig in an interview.

"It reflects the conventional wisdom of oil spills: If they just keep the oil out at sea, the harm will be minimal," Blair Witherington told the Los Angeles Times. But Witherington, a scientist who is part of the effort to rescue turtles, thinks the controlled burns are a mistake, and wishes BP would at least let them search the areas to be burned before they are set on fire. Nevertheless, Witherington admits that it might not be possible to save the turtles. "We've seen the oil covering the turtles so thick they could barely move, could hardly lift their heads. I won't pretend to know which is the nastiest."

Because Kemp’s Ridleys are listed under the Endangered Species Act—their numbers are probably in the thousands—harming or killing one carries stiff penalties. BP should theoretically be liable for deaths caused by the oil spill. But the controlled burns make it impossible to tell just how many turtles have died, which leads Mike Michael to accuse BP of destroying the evidence to keep their liability down.

More likely, BP is simply trying to limit the damage as quickly as possible. .....

[Catherina]

1. "could barely move, could hardly lift their heads"

:cry: Rec'd Thank you

[Poll_Blind]

2. BP is fully responsible for these atrocities as well. We should make them pay...

...forever, because that's about how long, give or take a few months, it will take to make things right.

PB

[YOY]

3. No no no no no no...

Sweetness no... :cry:

[HockeyMom]

4. PETA is suing BP

under all the cruelty to animals laws they can find. It won't bring back these poor creatures, but anything to give it back to BP is worth all the money in the world.

[Hekate]

5. CREDO has a petition as of yesterday. Link here

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bp_endangered_turtles/?r_by=9693-1044848-SV6xYtx&rc=paste1

If nothing else, please sign.

BP is a heinous criminal enterprise.

Hekate

[lonestarnot]

6. Dirty rat bastards.

[Selatius]

7. BP will likely never pay the full price of their mistakes here. This should makes us all enraged.

The folks who run BP should rot away in a prison cell.

[Urban Prairie]

8. Who knows how many other animals are being incinerated alive as well

with those controlled burns. So not only are many slowly suffocating within the crude oil, BP is also cruelly condemning them to the most painful death that could possibly be inflicted upon any living creature, with the added benefit of "destroying the evidence" that will reduce the cost of the catastrophe, albeit insignificantly to a corporation that made tens of billions annually.

I have nothing but contempt and loathing for BP and every other greedy, soulless, and corrupt to the core, corporate capitalist entity like them.

[amborin]

9. petition here:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1723/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4174