Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe still haunts the USA: birds dying all around

Whatever you read in the mainstream media, which is essentially ignoring or decorating the matter (because of the huge economic interests in offshore oil drilling, no doubt), the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe and the subsequent poisoning of the waters and atmosphere with extremely toxic dispersants (which only aggravate the problem, even if they may serve BP to lower its indemnification's bill, along with other cover up measures), the disaster is far from over. 

As anyone following any of the specialized sites (I follow mostly Florida Oil Spill Law) can say, the ecological, human health and economic consequences are only growing each day. I reckon I do not post too much here on this matter, mostly because I expect anyone with interest, to follow the specialized links rather than my more generalist blog. But now and then I feel compelled to write something.

These days there has been a most alarming sequence of dead birds by the hundreds or thousands in several locations across the US southern coasts or the Mississipi basin (generally towards the south of it). This is a list, probably incomplete:

• Arkansas: thousands of birds, mostly red-winged blackbirds, fall from the sky in Jan 3rd, related: experts doubt they died from fireworks, poison instead.
• Louisiana: some 500 blackbirds found dead (Jan 4th).
• Kentucky: hundreds of birds fall from the sky (Jan 5th).
• East Texas: hundreds of dead birds (coots) (Jan 6th).
• West Texas: many dead grackles found (Jan 6th).
• Indiana: 25 dead crows near Indianapolis (Jan 6th).
• Tennessee: swarms of dead birds found (Jan 7th).

All these birds, as far as I can tell, have something in common: they feed primarily or secondarily in water areas and may have passed by the Gulf coasts in the recent days or weeks (it is not possible that the poisons went upstream through the Mississippi and other rivers, though other explanations like atmospheric poisoning or illnesses may still be possible). 

Anyhow it is not just a matter of birds falling from the sky: massive amounts of dead fish are incredibly common these days, even as far as the Carolinas and Maryland, where the Gulf Stream should have carried the poisons already. Also in Florida, an Arkansas river (100,000 fish, too big to clean), dead dolphins,

Notice also hundreds of dead pelicans at North Carolina beach.

And the reports accumulate in just the first week of this year: manatee deaths may be related to oil and corexit poisoning, tarballs outnumber seashells in Alabama and Florida beaches, illnesses (poisoning) plague Gulf residents and beach cleaning crews, dispersants are still being sprayed every single night in spite of claims that this practice was discontinued long ago, officials acknowledging that the oil is still there on the beaches, sticky "red foam" washing off at Mississippi state coasts (left), lobsters hard to find in Florida Keys, oil obvious in Alabama waters, oil rolling onto Louisiana beaches (Grand Isle), young woman developed cancer in weeks after swimming in Gulf, physicians denounce criminal White House stand on contaminated seafood or swimming in Gulf waters, fishermen weep the loss of their livelihood, BP cleanup worker gets lab results: oil and dispersant chemicals in all his body, methane has not vanished from the Gulf (scientific counter-report), millions of seafood dead in Mississippi beach along "rainbow sheen", etc.

As I say, the information is so overwhelming and so sad that, even if I read it daily, I often just browse through it. But still I reckon how important is to denounce all this ecological disaster and the criminal manipulation by corporate and government agents, who are only trying to hide the impact. People is dying, being murdered, because of this and the ecological damage is unprecedented (not even Chernobyl was so bad over such a large area). 

It may even arrive to Europe at some point because here is where the Gulf Stream comes to, after getting separated from the Eastern US coast at roughly the latitude of Virginia. Some reports of dead crabs with black sand (said not to be from oil but pyrite) at Kent, Britain, are at least alarming (nonetheless because the UK government and media have been mostly covering up for BP so far, so I am not sure if the dismissal of oil causes is true or just another lie).