Mom and Dad have been traveling and just came home. During their trip, they flew over the Gulf of Mexico. Mom told me that she saw the horrible oil spill.
She said that it looked like a dark cloud moving over the ocean. She said that it was very close to the barrier islands off Louisiana. It is so sad. So many animals, birds, and fish will be hurt by the oil.
The oil spill began on April 18. Crews have still not been able to stop the oil from gushing out of the well.
Almost 20% of the Gulf of Mexico is closed to fishing now. Scientists are afraid that the oil will make fish and shellfish sick. It can also make people who eat the seafood sick. Many of our fishermen friends are out of work. The waters that are closed to fishing are the areas where most fish are caught in the Gulf.
Since the oil spill began at least 154 sea turtles, 23 birds, and 12 dolphins have died. Workers in Louisiana report that the oil is washing into pelican nests. Pelicans are endangered birds.
IF YOU FIND AN OILED OR INJURED ANIMAL,
PLEASE CALL (866) 557-1401.
PLEASE REPORT THE NUMBER AND TYPE OF ANIMALS, THE DATE AND TIME THEY WERE SEEN, THEIR LOCATION, AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANIMAL'S BEHAVIOR.
If you would like to volunteer to help injured animals, please check with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana at http://www.crcl.org/ To help injured birds, visit Save our Seabirds at http://www.saveourseabirds.org/
If you would like to learn more about oil spills, please visit http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/School-Solutions/Eco-Schools-USA/Become-an-Eco-School/Special-Report/~/media/PDFs/Eco-schools/OilSpillActivity-Easy.ashx
For information about how oil affects wildlife, visit these sites:
http://alaska.fws.gov/media/unalaska/Oil%20Spill%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf AND
http://www.epa.gov/OEM/docs/oil/edu/oilspill_book/chap5.pdf
This May 24, 2010, photo of the oil spill is courtesy NASA. For more images, please visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/oil_spill_gallery.html
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