photo: Wikipedia
DCL
Even with the majority of the oil from the Gulf oil spill now removed or dissipated there remains enough oil in the water that, if it was it's own oil spill it'd be the eighth largest in history. And the static kill has been successful and the relief well is nearly at its mark. There still remains however a big, lingering, and not fully understood impact on the entire ecosystem.
One poignant part of that is the fact that blue crab larvae have been discovered to will specks of oil in them.
The AP quotes biologist Bob Thomas, from Loyola University, on the significance of this finding:
It would suggest that oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water. Something likely will eat those oiled larvae...and then that animal will be eaten by something bigger and so on.
Scientists studying the crab larvae wouldn't speculate on overall numbers of larvae contaminated with oil, but would say that 40% of the area they are known to inhabit is contaminated with oil.
Beyond the effect of the oil spreading up the food chain, scientists say the crabs cannot metabolize the oil, potentially harming their ability to reproduce. This in turn means there could be die-off of the blue crabs.
Even if it doesn't result in extinction--no one is forecasting that dire an outcome--but as both other animals in the water which feed on the crabs, as well as humans fishing for them, are dependent upon them for their livelihood--crab fishing in Louisiana alone is a $300 million a year industry--it's just one more example of how the Gulf oil spill will have lingering effects for long after the clean-up is officially over.
