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Disaster in the Gulf - by Stephen Lendman
As more information surfaces, a potentially biblical disaster is unfolding, threatening to make vast parts of the Gulf dead zones, animals and plant species so contaminated and unsafe that Gulf communities may face "the total end of fishing, according to Carl Safina, Blue Water Institute ocean biologist.
"I don't see how the fish populations will be able to withstand what has happened. The basis of their livelihoods is being destroyed. This is not a temporary issue. Those things don't come back the day the oil stops," and no end of it so far is in sight.
On May 30, the UK Independent's Emily Dugan headlined "Oil spill creates huge undersea dead zones," according to oceanologists and toxicologists, saying:
If experts are right, "the sea's entire food chain could suffer years of devastation, with almost no marine life in the region escaping its effects."
Many scientists believe what's unseen below the surface will have the deadliest impact because of the combination noxious oil and toxic dispersants, combined to make a growing disaster far worse.
Over 8,300 animal and plant species are at risk. Some may face extinction, but the true toll won't be known for years.
"In previous spills, oil rose to the surface and was dealt with there," but hundreds of thousands of gallons of dispersants used has kept much of the it submerged, "resulting in unprecedented underwater damage to organisms in the Gulf."
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