It's official: The BP oil spill has poisoned the iconic Gulf oyster. And the fallout, according to scientists, could be devastating to the surrounding ecosystem and the people who work the Gulf waters. A team from the California Academy of Sciences has been studying oysters for two years, both before and after BP's oil reached the shores of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. The scientists found significantly higher concentrations of chromium, cobalt and vanadium – three heavy metals contained in crude oil – in oysters collected post-spill. That disturbing discovery has scientists concerned about two potential long-term impacts: (1) The toxicity may be passed along to an array of oyster predators such as sea birds, sea anemones, sea stars, crabs, fish and even humans; and (2) The toxicity may inhibit the ability of oysters to reproduce, potentially diminishing their numbers and straining the organisms higher up the food chain that rely on oysters as a food source. From an April 18 press release from the renowned California Academy of Sciences: As the two-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico approaches, a team of scientists led by Dr. Peter Roopnarine of the California Academy of Sciences has detected evidence ...
↧
