Set aside for a moment the disgust you feel when you find out that a web site is taking bets on what species are most likely to go extinct from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, can you think of any better way to figure out what species are in the most danger from the spill? The odds make it look like the critically-endangered Kemp’s Ridley Turtle will be the first to go; at least four have already been found oiled.
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
It seems that the BP fiasco is a clear sign that we are destined to self destruction. The next sure thing is now schedule for August with a new relief well. What a relief… no more worries until August! I get the feeling that BP does not want to permanently close this well and they do not care if the spill continues.
I can’t say that I think much of the “taking bets” part of this, but if it does anything at all to wake people up to the magnitude of this ecological disaster, I’m okay with it. Reporters and politicians seem stuck on talking about the econonic impact of it, and don’t seem to have the least bit of understanding about how this destruction of the gulf, the sea life, the birds, turtles, etc. will affect the health of our planet (and by extension us). I have little hope for the human species when all the powers see only an economic impact. It’s shameful they are so ignorant.