Animal Autopsies in Gulf Reveal Only a Mystery By Shaila Dewan

"Oil — inhaled or ingested — can cause brain lesions, pneumonia, kidney damage, stress and death. Scientists working on the BP spill have seen oil-mired animals that are suffering from extreme exhaustion and hyperthermia, with the floating crude reaching temperatures above 130 degrees, Dr. Stacy said.

Far less is known about the effects of dispersants, either by themselves or mixed with oil, though almost 2 million gallons of the chemicals have been used in the BP spill.

Studies show that dispersants, which break down oil into tiny droplets and can also break down cell membranes, make oil more toxic for some animals, like baby birds. And the solvents they contain can break down red blood cells, causing hemorrhaging. At least one fresh dolphin carcass found in the Gulf was bleeding from the mouth and blowhole, according to Lori Deangelis, a dolphin tour operator in Perdido Bay."

The quote above is from an article in today's NYT, "Animal Autopsies in Gulf Reveal Only a Mystery" By Shaila Dewan. What's not a mystery is how the BP catastrophe is going to impact the health of Gulf Coast residents. While I started this project as something else, I think it's absolutely nesessary to put out there that the long term health impact on along the Gulf Coast will render a lot of places uninhabitable for quite some time. There's going to be a lot of illness coming out of this... much, much more than anyone is talking about. We are looking a crisis that will last my lifetime, if not beyond.



----



It's over 122 miles from the gusher site to Waveland, Mississippi. The average high in Waveland for July is 91°, for August it's 90°, for September it's 87°.



Below is Waveland, Mississippi on July 8, 2010. The photos were all made within a 3 mile radius. I think it means that the land is uninhabitable due to air quality, without even touching on oil in the soil and water. There wasn't one place along the beach where oil wasn't visible.