*2 Years Later* Professor: Microbes in Gulf attacking things other than oil? Very large increase in crab and lobster with appendages falling off — High incidence of eyeless shrimp… More (VIDEO)

Published: April 23rd, 2012 By ENENews

Crustacean biologist Darryl Felder, Department of Biology with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette: “My fear is that these prior incidents of lesions might be traceable to microbes, and my questions are, did we alter microbial populations in the vicinity of the well by introducing this massive amount of petroleum and in so doing cause microbes to attack things other than oil?” -April 19, 2012

Title: Gulf Oil Spill: BP Execs Escape Punishment as Fallout from Disaster Continues to Impact Sea Life
Source: Democracy Now
Date: Apr. 23, 2012
Emphasis Added

AMY GOODMAN: [...] The impact of the disaster continues to unfold for the area’s residents and wildlife. Scientists say shrimp, fish and crabs in the Gulf of Mexico have been deformed by chemicals released during the spill. One commercial fisherperson told Al Jazeera that half of shrimp caught during the last white shrimp season were eyeless.

SCOTT EUSTIS: We have some evidence of deformed shrimp, which is another developmental impact, so that shrimp’s grandmother was exposed to oil while the mother was developing, but it’s the grandchild of the shrimp that was exposed grows up with no eyes.

[...]

DAHR JAMAIL: We have recently come across very, very disturbing information from Gulf region scientists. You know, the first person I came across was Dr. Jim Cowan with Louisiana State University, and he’s been working on a project, getting his funding from the state of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. And he’s been, actually, for many decades, sampling red snapper, which is a very popular fish in the industry. And he’s been finding that before the BP disaster in April 2010, that of all the red snapper he was sampling, he was finding point-one-tenth [0.1] of 1 percent snapper coming up with lesions and other types of problems. Post-spill, that has gone to between 2 and 5 percent of all samples. That means an increase of between 2,000 and 5,000 percent, and in some areas as much as 20 percent [a 20,000% increase], he said, in other areas who have extreme impact, where the oil and dispersants came in nearby the shore, of as many as 50 percent [a 50,000% increase] of fish sampled. Very, very disturbing information there.

And then, another doctor that I spoke with, Dr. Darryl Felder with University of Louisiana-Lafayette, he also has before-and-after samples. He was working out around the Macondo wellhead area on the sea floor with a grant from the National Science Foundation, that they wanted him to investigate just overall drilling impact on species in the area. And so, he had deep sea crab, deep sea lobster, deep sea shrimp, from before the spill, and then many, many sampling trips after the spill. And what he found was obviously a very, very large increase of finding crab and lobster, etc., that had black gills, that had appendages falling off, again similar stains on their shells, and again similar to findings not too different from Dr. Jim Cowan’s, in that when the oil, that much unnatural oil introduced into the environment, coupled with the dispersants, that it’s causing these lesions that are burrowing into the carapace and the shells and eating into the wax of the shells, causing an increase in the microbes that do eat oil. Not only are they not eating just oil, but eating into the shells, and then parasites and diseases and other illnesses are being formed.

And then, lastly and I think most disturbingly, as you already touched upon, the eyeless shrimp. We’re seeing very, very large incidence of eyeless shrimp now popping up not just in Louisiana, but in Alabama and Mississippi, not just inshore, but further far ashore—offshore. And some of the shrimp that we’re seeing, they came from a shrimper in Louisiana that was caught—caught 400 pounds of white shrimp in one catch in last September, just off the outskirts of Barataria Bay. And that was—of the 400 pounds of shrimp, the shrimpers told us that all of them were eyeless. So, very, very disturbing findings. And unfortunately, we’re expecting more to continue.

[...]

[BP claims administrator Ken] Feinberg is on his way out, because so many people across the region are incensed at the way he’s handled most of the claims. [...]

I talked to Ryan Lambert, who heads one of the largest charter fishing businesses in the entire Southeast, and he said, “Hey, we’re going to court. They have destroyed my business. It’s not coming back. I haven’t seen one single speckled trout in three months. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced that in my life. That’s 90 percent of the fish that we catch. So of course I’m going to go to court, because what they offered me, frankly, was insulting.”

http://enenews.com/2-years-later-concern-in-gulf-that-microbes-are-attacking-things-other-than-oil-very-large-increase-in-crab-and-lobster-with-appendages-falling-off-high-incidence-of-eyeless-shrimp-more

Eyeless Shrimp and Mutant Fish: Gulf Seafood Deformities Alarm

Many of you have heard me say this before so I’m repeating this FACT for new readers, while flying home from a family vacation last month I personally witnessed large areas of oil sheen on contaminating the surface water in the Gulf of Mexico. Which means if oil can still be seen on the surface, for over 24 months BP has been spraying highly toxic dispersant’s {Corexit} to hide the oil coming from the fractured ocean floor. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to calculate the toxicity that’s accumulate, ultimately contaminating everything living the Gulf of Mexico’s eco-system.

After seeing the contaminated seafood in this video can you imagine what marine life coming out of the Pacific will look like after a couple of years of living in a variety radioactive elements in high concentrations from Fukushima? Thanks for bring this story to our attention DP!

Published on Apr 19, 2012 by Sheilaaliens

http://sheilaaliens.net/?p=543 I’m re-posting this because Al-Jazeera is one of – if not THE only media network to be giving this any real attention. The U.S. mainstream media has picked up the story but only after Al-Jazeera’s report/investigation and the U.S. MSM is only posting it on their “blogs”/articles sections… no news videos (yet, that I have seen) addressing this issue.
This is what should be on the evening news. It concerns our food supply. So, leave it to a foreign news agency to tell us the most vital things we need to know about whats really going on with our country. :/ Share the info.
——————————————————————————–­——————————

“NEW ORLEANS — Eyeless shrimp, fish with oozing sores and other mutant creatures found in the Gulf of Mexico are raising concerns over lingering effects of the BP oil spill.
On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and spewed an estimated 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf, in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Two years later, scientists and commercial fishers alike are finding shrimp, crab and fish that they believe have been deformed by the chemicals unleashed in the spill, according to an extensive report by Al Jazeera English.
“At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these,” Tracy Kuhns, a commercial fisher from Barataria, La., told Al Jazeera, showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/18/eyeless-shrimp-and-mutant-fish-rais…

video source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VVyPiV5xdY
http://www.youtube.com/AlJazeeraEnglish

NibiruMagick’s Climate Change Update: Freak Foam Storm UK, Fukushima Hospitals forced to limit services, Diseased Seals in Alaska tested for radiation (30 December 2011)

From: NibiruMagick2012  | Dec 29, 2011

Drivers and walkers heading along the promenade at a popular Lancashire tourist spot were swamped by thick, dirty foam yesterday.
The oily bubbles were blown ashore after 90mph winds battered the resort of Cleveleys, near Blackpool. In places the freak foam was almost 3ft deep, trapping residents in their homes and stranding drivers.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2011/12/30/seasi…

Unusual Amount Of Gray Whales Spotted Off California Coast
http://www.sott.net/signs/list_by_category/4-The-Living-P…

Diseased seals washing ashore in Alaska being tested for possible Fukushima radiation exposure
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/

Solar wind weakens Mercury’s magnetic field
http://iceagenow.info/

Fukushima hospitals forced to limit services and reduce number of patients due to Tepco — Official: “We don’t know how long we’ll be able to continue operating under the current circumstances”
http://enenews.com/

NGO News: Hurricane Irene IS TOXIC

It’ll will be interesting to watch Tuckers health over the weeks to see how he does, this can’t be good…

Uploaded by JxRannok on Aug 27, 2011

NGO News: Hurricane Irene IS TOXIC
This is not sea foam

This is Corexit & Oil from the Gulf oil spill
This is a deadly Mixture of Chemicals!

Don’t be fooled!

This is going to cover the entire east coast!

NGO NEWS: “like” Us!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/NGO-News/104622279580575?sk=wall

Scientists Alarmed by Number of Diseased Fish in the Gulf

Our guest blogger is Kiley Kroh, Associate Director for Ocean Communications at the Center for American Progress.

One year after the BP oil catastrophe, marine life in the Gulf of Mexico is exhibiting some disturbing trends. Over 150 dead dolphins, including several with oil from the BP spill on their bodies, have washed up along the Gulf Coast this year. Now, scientists are expressing grave concern over the shocking number of fish they’ve discovered in inland waterways and the Gulf of Mexico with skin lesions, fin rot, spots, liver blood clots and other health problems. Richard Snyder, director of the University of West Florida Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, calls the discovery of so many diseased fish “a huge red flag“:

In the years following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the herring fishery collapsed and has not recovered, according to an Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee report. The herring showed similar signs of illness — including skin lesions — that are showing up in Gulf fish

Many of the symptoms scientists see in Gulf fish are consistent with oil exposure. If these recent trends prove to be a result of the BP disaster, then this could very well be a sign of worse things to come. Scientists currently working in the gulf stress that “findings so far demonstrate that studies need to continue far into the future,” again emphasizing the critical need for significant investment in scientific study and the long-term restoration of the Gulf.

The lesson of Prince William Sound’s herring fishery shows that the most devastating effects of the spill could take several years to present themselves. Therefore, Congress, which has failed to pass any sort of post-spill legislation, must use its authority to ensure BP and other responsible parties continue to be held accountable and that funds are directed into research and restoration projects.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/14/diseased-gulf-fish/

More dead dolphins wash up on Orange Beach, Alabama

“Our entire food chain within the Gulf of Mexico is affected, there’s no denying that.”

Dead Sea Turtles and Dolphins along with continued Oil Spills, Would you Swim in the Gulf?

Editors note: The following article comes from the RSOE Disaster Information Service, one word is noticeably absent from this story – dispersants. It’s obvious to the average person what’s killing everything in the Gulf, do you think it could be the millions of dollars BP spent bribing or even coercing people to stay quiet that keeps this out of the news?  This entire scam makes my head feel want to explode! Just  can’t believe reality has gone so far off track…Much love, Annette

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Sea turtles continue to wash ashore along the Gulf, forcing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to scramble and figure out what is causing the spike. Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Huffington Post were first to publish blogs about the sea turtle deaths in Mississippi. Since then, the national media picked up the story. Last Friday, NMFS released a statement with some details about its investigation:

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen an increase in turtle strandings in the northern Gulf, primarily in Mississippi. The spring time is the typical time when turtle strandings in this region begin to increase, but the sharp increases in recent days are of concern to us….NOAA Fisheries is in contact with the states of MS and LA regarding current trawl and other fishery activity that can result in turtle by catch and mortality. In addition, tests will be done for biotoxins, such as those from harmful algae blooms, which are common in the Gulf. …All causes of death, including petroleum, will be investigated when possible based on decomposition. During a necropsy, the full GI tract is examined for product or evidence of oil ingestion. Additionally, samples are taken for PAH analysis. In addition, all turtles are being carefully examined for signs of external oiling.

Like the dolphin strandings this year, it’s likely that many more turtles have died and will never be found. A recent study of dolphin deaths showed the true number of mortalities is probably 50 times what is recovered. As of Friday, NOAA says recent deaths of sea turtles, all of which are included on the Endangered Species list, include 6 in Alabama, 10 in Louisiana, and 47 in Mississippi. Make that at least 50 confirmed sea turtle deaths in Mississippi. This weekend, Pass Christian resident Shirley Tillman found three more dead turtles. Altogether, she has found nine this year. Over her more than 30 years in the community, she has never seen a dead turtle before. On Saturday, she took another walk on the beach, this time with a PBS television producer. Within an hour they found one turtle badly decomposed and hidden in marsh grass near Waveland. Shirley says she only discovered it because of the smell. On Sunday she went back to check on the turtle, which had been spray-painted orange for pick-up by authorities. That’s when she was told there was yet another dead turtle on the beach nearby.

“It’s crazy that I go out there nearly every day and find them. It makes me mad that NOAA is now trying to blame the shrimp fishermen for killing them in their nets when the shrimp season isn’t even open yet and hardly any boats are out there.” Shrimp fishermen feel the same way. They are required to use turtle excluders, devices that allow turtles to escape drowning in shrimp nets. Every year some turtles are killed by fishing boats inadvertently, but shrimpers say to blame them for the recent jump in turtle deaths is hard to believe. “It’s about as ridiculous as anything else I heard during this whole oil spill,” said Louisiana Shrimp Association President Clint Guidry. “This time of year shrimp fishermen are fixing their boats and getting ready for the main season that begins in May. I guess they’ve run out of excuses after saying everything is being killed by dead zones and algae, so now they need to blame us.” Nearly two weeks ago a new oil spill from a shallow well off the Louisiana coast leaked oil into the water that resulted in a huge slick that stretched for miles and polluted parts of Grand Isle and other nearby marshes. The Coast Guard says it was due to oil leaking from a well being capped by Anglo-Suisse, an oil drilling firm based in Texas. Initially the company said it had leaked only 5 gallons of oil.

But the oil slick was clearly much bigger. According to a Skytruth, an analysis of the slick using satellite imagery shows the well may have gushed as much as 640,000 gallons of Louisiana crude into the sea. It’s not clear what impact this oil spill has had on marine life. In Mississippi, Shirley Tillman believes BP oil has something to do with the dead sea life she constantly encounters by the shore. And she wonders how this may affect vacationers now flocking to the region. “It’s bad enough for turtles and dolphins to be dying, but should people and their children be swimming in this water too?” That is not the kind of message BP or local politicians want to hear. Major PR campaigns are underway to convince people the Gulf is normal and the seafood is safe. That’s the message they want to people to hear. But that message is at odds with the views of Gulf residents like Shirley Tillman. She sees a different reality every day she walks the beach.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?edis=BH-20110405-30181-USA

BP Whistleblowers, Over 10 have been Assasinated or Kidnapped in the last 2 years

America doesn’t have a government anymore,  it’s been sold to corporations that run the entire show. Politicians are nothing but puppets that make you feel like you still live in a democracy, when you don’t. We live under fascism plain and simple, when are people going to wake up and join together EN MASSE? Everyone young and old needs to get off their complacent ars’s and fight to take back this country from the corporations,  we’re heading down a very dark road when you don’t even know what’s going on because the media is owned by the same corporate monsters that are destroying America. Like BP, this video  is infuriating, Dr. Jeffery Gardner a veterinarian in Florida has gone missing after investigations into why swans and other birds were dying, and he obviously wasn’t playing along with the story line, or couldn’t be paid for his silence like so many doctors, researchers, scientists and others along the coast. This is the video of him basically pointing a finger at the dispersants as a cause of the swan deaths, now he’s dead. Like over 10 others over the last year who didn’t play nice with BP.

Have you noticed how everyone gives these ridiculous explanations for mass bird and marine kills along the coast? Well it officials and other vet’s are  either too scared to tell the truth or they’ll end up like these people, or maybe we need to take a look at their bank accounts to see how well it’s lined with dirty, greasy BP money. Every time I see a mass kill it’s obvious what killed them…duh! It’s not rocket science.

BREAKING: BP Whistleblowers, Over 10 of Them Assassinated Or Kidnapped in Last 2 Years…

BP Whistleblowers Blog

As Thomas Botch says in the comments at Facebook, “To many high profile people (successfull and educated with little reason to die from risky behavior) all “croak” in “too short a time period” to be “statistically normal.” Don’t you agree?”

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February 17, 2011 – LSU scientist Gregory Stone, 54 – Unknown Illness

Gregory Stone

The LSU community mourns the passing of Greg Stone, James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor in Coastal Studies, director of the WAVCIS program and internationally renowned coastal researcher. Stone passed away on Thursday, Feb. 17. A memorial service will be held at Rabenhorst Funeral Home on Monday, Feb. 21, at 12 p.m.  Continue Reading the Story about Greg Stone’s Death

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January 19, 2011 – former President and CEO of the International Oil Spill Control Corporation – imprisonment and subsequent murder while jailed

Dr. Thomas B. Manton

A Gulf human rights reporter, U.S. government Gulf operation critic, framed political prisoner, was murdered Thursday. Dr. Tomas B. Manton passed away Wednesday, January 19th after assaulted at Liberty Correctional Facility in Bristol, Florida where held as a Falsely Imprisoned Person (FIP).  Continue Reading the Article on Thomas Manton…

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December 31, 2010 – a former Pentagon official and presidential aide and a defense consultant and expert on chemical and biological weapons – was beaten to death in an assault, body was discovered in a Wilmington landfill

John P. Wheeler II

John P. Wheeler II, the military expert who served three Republican presidents and helped get the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built was found dead in a Delaware landfill.  Authorities are trying to piece together when he was last seen alive.  The body of John P. Wheeler II, 66, was uncovered Friday when a garbage truck emptied its contents at the Cherry Island landfill in Wilmington.  Continue Reading the Article on John Wheeler…

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November 23, 2010 – an incident commander for BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill response team, died Tuesday night near Destin, Florida in a small plane crash’

James Patrick Black

An official of BP Plc’s Gulf oil spill program and two family members died in a plane crash on Tuesday night in Florida, the company said in a statement.  James Patrick Black, 58, died when the private plane on which he was a passenger crashed while trying to land in heavy fog at a Destin, Florida, airport, according to BP and the U.S. Coast Guard.  Continue Reading the Article on James Patrick Black…

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November 15, 2010 – age 33, worked in the USF Center for Biological Defense and Global Health Infectious Disease Research – Found dead in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel. She leaves behind a husband and a young child.

Chitra Chaunhan

A University of South Florida molecular biologist died Monday night in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel, police said.  Chitra Chauhan, 33, of Tampa was pronounced dead at University Community Hospital about 10:30 p.m., Temple Terrace police reported.  Continue Reading the Article on Chitra Chaunhan…

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November, 2010 – MIA Status, of Lakeland, FL – Swan expert who “ran into legal trouble over an expired prescription license has closed his practice” — Was investigating unexplained bird deaths near Sarasota abruptly and immediately closed his practice, and apparently his investigation into the deaths of swans in Sarasota, suspected to have been impacted by the BP Oil Disaster. No one has heard or spoken with him since. Watch this news report covering his investigation before his disappearance:

Dr. Jeffrey Gardner, Swan Doctor

Dr. Jeffrey Gardner

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October 6, 2010 – age 66, was hit by a truck as he passed through Panama City, Florida. Mr. Grooters had been knocked down and killed close to the end of a 3,200-mile trans-America charity ride to raise awareness about the Gulf Coast oil disaster. He began his cross-country bike ride in Oceanside, California, on September 10th. Grooters’s family and friends will cycle the final stretch of the journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic in his honour, raising cash to support Gulf Coast families. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319529/Cyclist-Roger-Grooters-66-killed-truck-Gulf-Mexico-oil-spill-charity-ride.html#ixzz1G4s6su96

Roger Grooters, Cyclist

A cyclist aged 66 has been knocked down and killed close to the end of a 3,200-mile trans-America charity ride.  Roger Grooters was hit by a truck as he passed through Panama City, Florida, last Wednesday.  Mr Grooters’ wife, Vicki, was following the 66-year-old in a support vehicle when the accident happened.  Continue Reading the Article on Roger Grooters…

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August 9, 2010 – Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, 86, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, was among nine people on board when the 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter, crashed into a brush- and rock-covered mountainside Monday afternoon about 17 miles north of the southwest Alaska fishing town of Dillingham, federal officials said. Stevens was the recipient of a whistleblower’s communication relative to the BP Oil Disaster blow-out preventer, and a conspiracy of secrecy to hide the facts from the public. (http://beforeitsnews.com/story/132/410/Sen._Ted_Stevens_Killed_In_Plane_Crash_He_Got_A_
Million_From_BP_And_Knew_Blow_Out_Preventer_Was_A_Problem._Was_He_Whacked.html)

“You and your fellow Committee members may wish to require BP to explain what action was ultimately instituted to cease the practice of falsifying BOP tests at BP Prudhoe drilling rigs. It was a cost saving but dangerous practice, again endangering the BP workforce, until I exposed it to Senator Ted Stevens, the EPA, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.” The cause of the crash is still an OPEN investigation by the NTSB (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=ANC10MA068&rpt=p)

BP paid a $1 million to buy Ted Stevens papers, to try and shut him up…

Senator Ted Stevens

Dave Dittman, a former aide and longtime family friend of former Sen. Ted Stevens, says Stevens was killed in a plane crash near Dillingham Monday night. Dittman says he received a call overnight Monday that said the former senator was dead. Nine people were on board, including former NASA Chief Sean O’Keefe. Five people were killed in the crash, but other identities were not known, nor are the conditions of the survivors.  Continue Reading the Article about Ted Stevens…

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August 13, 2010 – age 67 – Simmons’ body was found Sunday night in his hot tub, investigators said. An autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office concluded Monday that he died from accidental drowning with heart disease as a contributing factor – “It was painful as can be” to be only insider willing to speak out against the “officials” during the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

Matthew Simmons

Matthew Roy Simmons was founder and chairman emeritus of Simmons & Company International, and was a prominent advocate of peak oil. Simmons was motivated by the 1973 energy crisis to create an investment banking firm catering to oil companies. In his previous capacity, he served as energy adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush. He was, up until his death, a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.  Continue Reading theA Article on Matthew Simmons…

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April 6, 2010 – age 46 – cell biologist and college professor, a near-native Floridian who chose to return to South Florida after studying at elite universities – was fatally shot during what police say was a home invasion robbery.

Scientist Joseph Morrissey

A Nova Southeastern University professor who spent his promising career trying to cure cancer was murdered during an apparent home invasion in his usually quiet Plantation suburb in the middle of the night.  Dr. Joseph Morrissey, 46, was tied up and shot before his house was set on fire by an armed man, according to reports. His wife, Linda, was also tied up but escaped the home with the couple’s 5-year-old son. Police say the “robber” is at large, though there is no description at this point other than he is a man.  Continue Reading the Article on Joseph Morrissey…

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January 26, 2011 – age 31 – Mississippi Department of Marine Resources officer, from Ocean Springs arrested on child porn charge

Anthony Nicholas Tremonte

Another Mississippi law enforcement officer has been arrested for allegedly keeping child porn on his state issued laptop. Anthony Nicholas Tremonte, 31, was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of Possession of Child Pornography. Continue Reading the Article on Anthony Tremonte…

http://www.newworldorderreport.com/News/tabid/266/ID/7516/BREAKING-BP-Whistleblowers-Over-10-of-Them-Assassinated-Or-Kidnapped-in-Last-2-Years.aspx

“My BP Claim” – Keeping the Memory Alive

As another environmental catastrophe bears down on the natures “delicate web of life” in Japan, we mustn’t let the memory of what happened one year ago this month fade away. People all along the Gulf Coast are sick and dying from chemical related toxic poisoning, while the doctors carelessly look away and the government washes it’s hands of the whole oily mess. Dolphins wash up dead and even land animals are succumbing to the toxins that have seeped into the environment.

The sinister effects of radiation aren’t so obvious as oil, which makes this disaster all the more insidious. We can still see the oil in the Gulf,  the effects from radiation in lower doses can take years to rear it’s ugly head in the form of cancer and birth defects.  You can smell oil in fish, what about radioactivity?  Without a Geiger counter…just say no to seafood.

We will never forget….

BP Oil Disaster: Obama Administration Tightens Lid on Dolphin Death Probe

Published on Saturday, March 26, 2011 by Reuters

by Leigh Coleman

BILOXI, Mississippi – The U.S. government is keeping a tight lid on its probe into scores of unexplained dolphin deaths along the Gulf Coast, possibly connected to last year’s BP oil spill, causing tension with some independent marine scientists.

A bottlenose dolphin breaks the surface off Florida in this 2009 photo. Wildlife biologists contracted by the National Marine Fisheries Service to document spikes in dolphin mortality and to collect specimens and tissue samples for the agency were quietly ordered late last month to keep their findings confidential.

The gag order was contained in an agency letter informing outside scientists that its review of the dolphin die-off, classified as an “unusual mortality event (UME),” had been folded into a federal criminal investigation launched last summer into the oil spill.

“Because of the seriousness of the legal case, no data or findings may be released, presented or discussed outside the UME investigative team without prior approval,” the letter, obtained by Reuters, stated.

A number of scientists said they have been personally rebuked by federal officials for “speaking out of turn” to the media about efforts to determine the cause of some 200 dolphin deaths this year, and about 90 others last year, in the Gulf.

Moreover, they said collected samples and specimens are being turned over to the government for analysis under a protocol that will leave independent scientists in the dark about the efficacy and outcome of any laboratory tests.

TRANSPARENCY UNDERMINED?

Some researchers designated as official “partners” in the agency’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network complained such constraints undermine the transparency of a process normally open to review by the scientific community.

“It throws accountability right out the window,” one biologist involved in tracking dolphin deaths for more than 20 years told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “We are confused and … we are angry because they claim they want teamwork, but at the same time they are leaving the marine experts out of the loop completely.”

Some question why the Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has taken so long to get samples into laboratories.

“It is surprising that it has been almost a full year since the spill, and they still haven’t selected labs for this kind of work,” said Ruth Carmichael, who studies marine mammals at the independent Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama.

“I can only hope that this process is a good thing. I just don’t know. This is an unfortunate situation.”

NOAA officials expressed sympathy but insisted the control and confidentiality measures were necessary.

“We are treating the evidence, which are the dolphin samples, like a murder case,” said Dr. Erin Fougeres, a marine biologist with the Fisheries Service. “The chain of custody is being closely watched. Every dolphin sample is considered evidence in the BP case now.”

METHODICAL APPROACH

Read more here:

http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/Commerce_Dept_Forbids_Biologists_from_Releasing_Data_Regarding_Gulf_Dolphin_Deaths_110329