Though we spend most of our time on land, three-quarters of this planet that we live upon is covered in water, and most of that is oceans and seas, saltwater. The oceans are a big buffer zone. They can absorb a lot of harmful changes and abuse. They can take a lot...but we have pushed the oceans beyond their limit, past their ability to adapt. Coral reefs, the home and breeding grounds of many of the fish in the sea, are dead and dying all over the world. Acting like a coal miner's canary, the reefs are the first sign of mortal danger. Our ocean's canary has fallen off the perch and is dying. Pollution in some regions, over-fishing in others, and Global Warming's carbon footprint, these are the culprits.
As go the oceans, so go the rest of the planet. Our own lives and fate are inextricably linked to the health of the ocean. In protecting the ocean, we protect ourselves. There has never been so great a threat to our well-being before. Sadly, since we live our lives on a small portion of that twenty-five percent which is land, we seldom see or recognize the damage and destruction we're doing. By the time most of us find out about it, the damage is already done, and it's nearly too late.
Corporations care only for their profits. That is why they pay the fines and continue to dump toxic and radioactive wastes into our homes. Gambling and cruise ships pour raw sewerage, including noxious chemicals, directly into the seas beneath them. Paper mills pour tons of toxic byproducts into the oceans. Plastic manufacturing plants do the same. For centuries, man has over-fished a bountiful region, driving some species to the brink of extinction, all the while spewing filth into those very waters that sustain us.
Protect The Ocean
The Cove :: Take Part
The Cove exposes not only the tragedy of dolphin slaughtering in Japan, but also the dangerously high levels of mercury in dolphin meat and seafood, the cruelty in capturing dolphins for entertainment, and the depletion of our oceans fisheries by worldwide seafood consumption. We also see how the mandate of the International Whaling Commission has been manipulated by the Japanese Fisheries Agency for its benefit and its subsequent effect on the rest of the world.
It runs from the Gulf of Mexico, around and up the eastern shores of the United States, then heads east, and finally returns to a southbound coarse, protecting the coast of Europe and the United Kingdom. Disturb that flow, alter the course and life-forms, and the entire Northern Hemisphere is in immediate danger. Europe and the UK could be thrown into chaos as the protective warm waters gave way, freeze killing off thousands of people at a time. The U.S. would not be unscathed either. Our own shores are also protected by the Gulf Stream. Now realize that the rest of the delicate balance could be thrown off by changes in the Gulf Stream. What we do in one area could realistically and seriously devastate the entire planet.
The effects are already being felt. Across the globe, storms have risen up -- hurricanes of tremendous severity, and in unprecedented numbers. Katrina was a warning shot. The hurricanes of this past year are signs of the unraveling of the balances of nature. We would be wise to heed that warning.
Who is looking out for the oceans while we live our lives up on dry land? A few organizations come to mind. Greenpeace (more so in times past,) Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd, Ocean Conservancy, and even Surfrider. Why not the fishermen themselves? Some simply don't have the know-how, the ability to recognize the differences. Commercial fishing and whaling fleets intentionally turn a blind-eye, knowing full well what the potential risks are, but daring anyway. They care more about their profits than any future price we all may pay. By their thinking, when the risk is close at hand then they must wring every dime they can from the ocean before it's too late to do so.
We're here to watch, to guard, to inform and educate, and to protect the ocean. We invite you to join us, in spirit and in action. By protecting the ocean, we bring health and life to ourselves.
Just as the government announced that the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico is now open to fin fishing and the taking of shrimp (in sharp contradiction to toxicology reports from our sources,) another oil rig has exploded some 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay, Louisiana, injuring at least one person. An oil slick 100 feet wide and a mile long has been seen coming from this site, dubbed Vermillion 380, which was described as a “fixed, manned production platform” owned by Mariner Energy. At 12:52 EST, the Coast Guard reports that they were actively rescuing 13 workers who were thrown into the ocean by the explosion. Though the rig is fix, rather than floating, in waters 2500 feet deep, it was reported that the rig was not producing oil or gas at the time, as it was undergoing maintenance.
It has not yet been determined if there is a significant ongoing leak or not. At 2:30 Eastern Time, the rig was still burning. Three additional firefighting vessels have been dispatched to the area of the rig to assist the one already there. Coast Guard choppers are there primarily to rescue the workers, but will likely provide further information from their aerial perspective as well.
We would like to hope that the recent oil cleanup activities have taught them to surround that oil and reclaim it by vacuum rather than “dispersing” it with Corexit or some other solvent. Leaking oil would again put wildlife and shorelines at risk, but the “dispersing agents” have proven far more dangerous than allowing the crude oil to remain at the surface, where it can be seen and collected.
We will keep you posted on this latest development, and continue to monitor the Gulf waters. Surely this can not be mistaken; What clearer sign do we need? It’s time to call a halt to ALL offshore drilling. If this had happened on a land-based rig, containment would be easily done, and losses nearly non-existent.
Some of you may have been watching the drama unfold since the death of long-time Seaworld trainer Dawn Brancheau. While that was certainly a tragedy, the incident begs the question, “What to do about Tilikum?” For those of you who may have missed all or part of the situation, we provide this recap:
The day of the attack, the orcas had been notedly uncooperative, as most orca experts not on the payroll of SeaWorld would attest. After the main show, Dawn was grabbed by Tilikum, an adult male orca (who had already killed two other people) while in captivity. Though as many as 85 people may have been involved in rescue efforts, Ms. Brancheau died from the attack. Initially, SeaWorld tried to play the incident off as an unfortunate accident in which the trainer slipped, fell into the pool and drowned. Only when one of the patrons who had witnessed the attack spoke up, did the truth of the matter surface.
We have been reporting (and reporting about) the dangers of Corexit since the beginning of its use in the BP Gulf Disaster. Amongst things that we at Protect The Ocean have noticed is that Corexit is detectable in significant concentrations within shoreline waters days ahead of the arrival of the oil itself, and in beach waters that show no sign of oil contamination. Corexit is lethal to fish fry within 96 hours (and the stuff has been in there a lot longer than 96 hours) at just 2.6 ppm, that’s a pretty serious concentration! The fact is that far lower concentrations have proven lethal on fish fry when the duration went to 2 weeks.
A local Channel 5 news station at the Gulf did some independent testing. They took samples of water that children were playing in, and found Corexit solvents in concentrations ranging from 16 ppm to well over 200 ppm. Needless to say, I wouldn’t want anything in (or from) those waters if it could be helped. There’s no doubt that employing Corexit to bury the oil beneath the surface (where they wouldn’t be forced to pay for cleaning it up) was their contingency plan in case of major catastrophic leak. There’s little doubt that they realized the potential ramifications of infusing the stuff at 133+ atmospheres of pressure in cold water. Read the rest of this entry »
BP and the government are trying to tell us that everything is fine, all is under control, and we should carry on, return to tourism, spending money and act as if nothing had really happened. Luckily for us, there’s still the 1st Amendment. Despite best efforts on the part of BP and their underlings at the U.S. Coast Guard, the truth isn’t all being covered up.
A local news station wanted to know the truth. So their investigative reporter went out and took samples of the water and sand from several locations. The results are downright frightening! Read the rest of this entry »
From the very beginning of the Gulf Oil Disaster, we’ve been bringing you facts and information that BP and its minions have been trying to cover up. We’ve also been trying to warn the EPA and Coast Guard about the dangers of Corexit as utilized… and been shut down, stalled off and stonewalled all along. Now we see that Anderson Cooper and CNN haven’t fared any better than we have.
The people we contact at the Gulf coast talk about people being sickened — lots of them. They talk about bodies of oil-soaked dead dolphins piled up, waiting to be burned before cameras and news crews can get those images out. They tell us about BP setting fire (“flaring”) the surface of the ocean, refusing to allow turtle rescuers to scoop up live victims before they ignite the surface oil. Yes, that’s right, endangered species amongst them, they’re burning these creatures alive, rather than let rescuers go in and get them! Read the rest of this entry »
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