"Dead Bird Island" Discovered in Gulf

08/25/2010

The Louisiana Environmental Action Network is reporting dozens of dead sea birds on an island off the Louisiana coast.  The group was out collecting sediment samples in their effort to monitor and understand the impacts of the BP oil spill disaster when they made the discovery.  The bird carcasses ranged from completely decomposed to freshly dead, indicating that whatever is killing them is ongoing. 

As with other dead wildlife found in the Gulf, further investigation will need to be done to determine whether or not the deaths are the result, directly or indirectly, of the oil spill.  In light of the magnitude of this disaster, however, all dead or dying wildlife in the region should be considered potential casualties of the spill.

Paul Orr of the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper participated in the trip and reports:

"What we encountered there stunned us all. The ground was littered with dead birds. So many dead birds that we aren't sure how many were out there, many dozens of dead birds just in the small area which we surveyed on the island. The dead appeared to included mostly seagulls and terns though some were badly decayed and identification was difficult. It was clear to me by the various states of decay, from scattered bones to a tern that couldn't have been dead for more than a day and everything in between, that this is an ongoing situation.

We also saw a juvenile gull that was in distress. It could hardly walk and was very unsteady when it took a step it also had very little energy. By the time we finished our sampling and were ready to leave the island the bird had died. I asked Kurt if he had seen anything like the dead birds and he said that he had been visiting this island his entire life and he has never seen dead birds in the numbers we were seeing. It is clear to me that these birds are somehow being poisoned by the BP event."

VIDEO: The video below shows the juvenile gull mentioned by Paul Orr above shortly before it succumbed. This is difficult to watch, and whether or not the oil spill is responsible for this particular bird's death or not, I share it because sometimes we need to see the potential outcome of our actions on wildlife with our own eyes.

UPDATE 8/26/2010: The Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper have created a longer version of the video.

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David Mizejewski is a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments

[Niggar]

lol

[Big Daddy]

Where are the pics of all the dead birds?

[Anon]

This is probably the result of the 18 million gallons of toxic dispersant used by BP in treating the escaped oil.

[Katie R.]

I would bet that they are dying from eating fish and shrimp that are contaminated since the bird himself didn't look like he had been in oil. As long as their food is tainted, it will continue. :( Such a gigantic tragedy.

[Matt]

what we all have to remember is that we are all to blame.
If you drove to work this morning or had your air-conditioning on this summer or plan on using your heat this winter,you will be using the oil these people gather for us. YOU killed that bird, YOU caused this spill, YOU drive the need for oil.
Call your senator and demand they find a new source of fuel for all of these thing we use daily, if you are truly outraged.
But if your not willing to act SHUT UP and stop whining. Do something or go home.

[Liana]

What have YOU done Matt?

[Liana]

What have YOU done Matt?

[shelbee]

to matt. who posted...

what we all have to remember is that we are all to blame.
If you drove to work this morning or had your air-conditioning on this summer or plan on using your heat this winter,you will be using the oil these people gather for us. YOU killed that bird, YOU caused this spill, YOU drive the need for oil.
Call your senator and demand they find a new source of fuel for all of these thing we use daily, if you are truly outraged.
But if your not willing to act SHUT UP and stop whining. Do something or go home.

Posted by: Matt | 08/25/2010 at 03:01 PM

let me ask you Matt...? do you use electricity, a/c , drive a car or anything else.
cause unless u are perfect i'm sure that u r part of the us that you are bitching about. point is most of us hate to see this tragedy happening and it hurts us to see all the damage taking place. but noe everybody can drop their daily life to go help. trust me i'd love to, but i have four children that i have to care for. i am trying to teach them to respect the earth we live on and to keep it green. but its not fair to tell people to shut up just because they can't be an immediate factor. sometimes just spreading the word is powerful enough! if you are so motivated i would think you should understand that!!!

[sto12m]

hey matt....FAIL on your part.....

If you drove to work this morning or had your air-conditioning on this summer or plan on using your heat this winter,you will be using the oil these people gather for us. YOU killed that bird, YOU caused this spill, YOU drive the need for oil. <--- hey moron...how did u post that comment?...electricity!..run by oil....

please try again...

[Hayes031571]

Hey Matt why don't you watch the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, every president going back at least the last 7 have said in national addresses that we need to get off foreign oil. Has it happened yet? No! Why? Because big oil owns our government, writing a letter to your congressman is just going to fill his round file. Money talks in Washington DC or large political embarrassment. This oil spill might make something happen so don't trash us either join us or shut up.

[The Situation]

It died shortly after the film was shot because you folks ATE him. SHAME ON YOU!

[The Situation]

@sto12m hey turd electricity can be made from solar and battery powered houses which INCLUDE intardnet access you idiot.

Way to stereotype and show your IQ level....go back to 8th grade and get more brain washed from your liberal Gov't teacher

[Virus Removal]

Yep. Pretty disgusting what has gone on here.

Let's hope some drastic change comes from this, but i highly doubt it.

[Cyndy Lee]

I dont understand how people can sit here and say this oil is what we have to have more of. I was in NY and saw the wind turbines that are being put up all over the country, and I listen to people complain about how it "takes away from the view". Well, I guess the view of oil covered beaches and dead birds is more pleasing?

[D]

It's true, if we want to make a environmental impact that could be the future change that would divert anything like this from ever occuring again, we need to change our ways, as an individual, as a country, as a world. But humanity is so self interested that there is truly no telling if we will ever be strong enough to make that change. It is a very large issue that just seems to be "out of our hands" at this point .

[casey nunez]

This is no surprise I have filmed dead Pelican fish and crabs in Lake Pontchatrain thing is the local media will not touch the story I have also filmed Dead Dolphin just last week on the Gulf in Mississippi and lots of oil as they tell us the oil is Gone.
maybe as soon as people actually start also getting sick and dying we will truly better understand the seriousness of the Gulf Crisis

[casey nunez]

I HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH THIS VIDEO IF THEY SAW SO MANY DEAD BIRDS WHY DID THEY ONLY FILM ONE?

[Thomas Holland]

We don't have a problem with oil, we have a problem with big oil controlling the powers that be. Want to make a statement they won't soon forget, VOTE THEM ALL OUT

[Lollercoaster]

People who are angry at Matt. You are all missing a key point of his statement. He is not bitching at BP and blaming them for the problem. Instead, he is pointing out that the problem exists on a much larger scale than just this oil spill.

[PJB]

It always takes on delusional idiot like Matt to start a war of words on a blog. They will continue to find dead animals in the months to come it is very tragic, what is disgusting is the attempt to cover this all up.

[Legion]

I have to agree with Matt. We ARE all to blame. I myself included. I try to keep my usage as much as possible. I dont drive, I dont have air conditioning. I use a log fire for heating and cook on gas but I still use an awful lot of electricity. The world will be a much better place when we stop using fossil fuels. I would be happy to pay a little bit more for renewable energy. Its about time the use of fossil fuels was banned.

[tia]

Is everyone supposed to go Amish? No, wait, they buy gas-powered chainsaws from my husband...

[Jeffrey]

Matt--Your a fool. Sure Oil demend has a part to play in all this. But the spill could still have been prevented from happening if they took the steps to be more careful in thier drilling methods. Even if we change to mostly alternate fuels. Some applications will continue to require fossle lubricants & fuels to some extent.

And Matt....how did you post your comment? Using a computer, or cell phone or whatever you used also contributes to the use of fossle fuels. These products use them just to be manufactured. Some use the fuel for power too. So to point fingers at people without 1st pointing a finger at yourself is wrong.

[heide]

everyone who was wasting fuel with irresponsible driving habits needs to cut it out; everyone who runs heat and air conditioning when they are not home needs to stop it. If you buy cheap throw-away plastic items made with plastic made from petroleum you need to think about buying products that will last longer. At this point even the the most conservative petroleum user has no choice but to use some oil but think about what an impact we could make as a collective if we cut out the overuse and waste. There would be no need for off-shore drilling.

[David Mizejewski]

Thanks for all of the lively discussion. Please let me remind people to keep it civil. Posting nasty comments to a blog post is a really ineffective way of getting people to see your point of view.

That said, Matt is largely correct. BP is directly responsible for this horrific disaster. The oil industry and elected officials in their pocket are also pretty directly responsible.

But each of us who makes energy use choices without considering the bigger consequences is also indirectly responsible. Each of us can make a difference, or at a minimum reduce our contribution to the problem, by choosing the most fuel efficient cars, walking, buying locally produced food, turning the lights off, etc.

The answer is not that we have to give up using energy. That's clearly unrealistic. But Matt is correct that the #1 absolute best way to express your anger and frustration with the BP oil spill disaster, and the #1 way to make a difference, is to let your representatives in Congress know about it.

Preventing the another BP oil spill disaster and moving towards clean energy is something that really can only happen by Congressional action.

Find out more at http://www.nwf.org/Oil-Spill.aspx