mohandasgandhi: Thousands of dead fish reported at mouth of Mississippi Thousands of fish have turned up dead at the mouth of Mississippi River, prompting authorities to check whether oil was the cause of mass death, local media reports said Monday. ]]>The fish were found Sunday floating on the surface of the water and collected in booms that had been deployed to contain oil that leaked from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Times-Picayune reported. “By our estimates there were thousands, and I’m talking about 5,000 to 15,000 dead fish,” St Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro was quoted as saying in a statement. He said crabs, sting rays, eel, drum, speckled trout and red fish were among the species that turned up dead. Taffaro said there was some recoverable oil in the area, and officials from the state’s wildlife and fisheries division were sampling the water. But he added, “We don’t want to jump to any conclusions because we’ve had some oxygen issues by the Bayou La Loutre Dam from time to time.” Yes, it is true that thousands of dead fish are not strangers to the watershed of the Mississippi River but does the cause negate the concern?  This oil spill incident has brought some MUCH needed attention to the 100 mile dead zone that now inhabits the Gulf of Mexico that’s largely due to the runoff from farms all along the Mississippi River.  All of the nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers and the methane from cow waste has seeped into the Gulf to create ungodly amounts of algae that blocks out any sunlight.  The lack of oxygen is also due to all of the algae that pollutes the coastal waters.  Under the surface, the mouth of the Mississippi is nearly completely devoid of life. Whether the cause is the oil spill or farm pollution - I don’t really care because each environmental problem needs to be addressed. 

mohandasgandhi:

Thousands of dead fish reported at mouth of Mississippi

Thousands of fish have turned up dead at the mouth of Mississippi River, prompting authorities to check whether oil was the cause of mass death, local media reports said Monday.

The fish were found Sunday floating on the surface of the water and collected in booms that had been deployed to contain oil that leaked from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Times-Picayune reported.

“By our estimates there were thousands, and I’m talking about 5,000 to 15,000 dead fish,” St Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro was quoted as saying in a statement.

He said crabs, sting rays, eel, drum, speckled trout and red fish were among the species that turned up dead.

Taffaro said there was some recoverable oil in the area, and officials from the state’s wildlife and fisheries division were sampling the water.

But he added, “We don’t want to jump to any conclusions because we’ve had some oxygen issues by the Bayou La Loutre Dam from time to time.”

Yes, it is true that thousands of dead fish are not strangers to the watershed of the Mississippi River but does the cause negate the concern?  This oil spill incident has brought some MUCH needed attention to the 100 mile dead zone that now inhabits the Gulf of Mexico that’s largely due to the runoff from farms all along the Mississippi River.  All of the nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers and the methane from cow waste has seeped into the Gulf to create ungodly amounts of algae that blocks out any sunlight.  The lack of oxygen is also due to all of the algae that pollutes the coastal waters.  Under the surface, the mouth of the Mississippi is nearly completely devoid of life. Whether the cause is the oil spill or farm pollution - I don’t really care because each environmental problem needs to be addressed.