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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
bold'>Well, dropped it has, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gary</st1:place></st1:City>
as it always does.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
bold'>Kris<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Gary Yokie
[mailto:garyyokie@yahoo.com] <br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Sunday, November 07, 2010
11:45 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Discuss@paa-tx.org;
graham2639@mindspring.com<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [PAA-Discuss] Smoking
Gun: Scientists Find Damage to Coral Near BP Well</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Folks:<br>
<br>
Didn't BP, the Feds and others claim the oil and dispersant just
"vanished" or "evaporated?" Didn't the surf just sweep it
up like a dust bunny? <br>
<br>
I've been waiting for the ugly, filthy shoe to drop.<br>
<br>
--GY<br>
<br>
--- On <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sun, 11/7/10, <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Ron
and Kris Graham</st1:PersonName> <i><span style='font-style:italic'><graham2639@mindspring.com></span></i></span></b>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
From: <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Ron and Kris Graham</st1:PersonName>
<graham2639@mindspring.com><br>
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] Smoking Gun: Scientists Find Damage to Coral Near BP
Well<br>
To: Discuss@paa-tx.org<br>
Date: Sunday, November 7, 2010, 10:22 AM<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div id=yiv730820399>
<div>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><b><font size=2 color=black
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:black;font-weight:bold'>The information in this article makes me angry
and sad. The article doesn’t even mention the toxic Corexit that was used to
“disburse” the oil. All the Corexit did was cause the oil to sink to the
bottom where nobody could see it. Meanwhile, the damage was being done below
the surface of the water. I’m not sure the Gulf will ever recover from this.
BP executives should be prosecuted to the fullest as should Halliburton and
anybody else involved with the running of this oil drilling platform. This won’t
happen, though, because the Obama administration is beholden to these
corporations for their dollars.</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><b><font size=2 color=black
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:black;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><b><font size=2 color=black
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:black;font-weight:bold'>Kris</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><b><font size=2 color=black
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:black;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><i><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-style:italic'>Published on Saturday, November 6,
2010 by the Associated Press</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><i><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-style:italic'> </span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'>'Smoking Gun': Scientists Find
Damage to Coral Near BP Well</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>by Cain Burdeau<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>NEW
ORLEANS -- For the first time, federal scientists have found damage to deep
sea coral and other marine life on the ocean floor several miles from the
blown-out BP well - a strong indication that damage from the spill could be
significantly greater than officials had previously acknowledged.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><img width=275 height=210
id="yiv730820399_x005f_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CB7E71.E23D1810"
alt="[This undated photo provided by the Lophelia II 2010 research group, shows coral, several miles from the site of the blown-out BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, apparently covered with brown material. For the first time, federal scientists say they have found damage to deep sea coral and other marine life from the the Deepwater Horizon rig, but tests are needed to verify that the coral died from oil from released in the disaster.]"
title=coral.jpg class="yiv730820399imagefield imagefield-field_image"
align=bottom>This undated photo provided by the Lophelia II 2010 research
group, shows coral, several miles from the site of the blown-out BP well in
the Gulf of Mexico, apparently covered with brown material. For the first
time, federal scientists say they have found damage to deep sea coral and
other marine life from the the Deepwater Horizon rig, but tests are needed to
verify that the coral died from oil from released in the disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tests are needed to verify that the coral died from
oil that spewed into the <st1:place w:st="on">Gulf of Mexico</st1:place>
after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, but the chief scientist who led
the government-funded expedition said Friday he was convinced it was related.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"What
we have at this point is the smoking gun," said Charles Fisher, a
biologist with Penn State University who led the expedition aboard the Ronald
Brown, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"There
is an abundance of circumstantial data that suggests that what happened is
related to the recent oil spill," Fisher said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For the
government, the findings were a departure from earlier statements. Until now,
federal teams have painted relatively rosy pictures about the spill's effect
on the sea and its ecosystem, saying they had not found any damage on the
ocean floor.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In
early August, a federal report said that nearly 70 percent of the 170 million
gallons of oil that gushed from the well into the sea had dissolved
naturally, or was burned, skimmed, dispersed or captured, with almost nothing
left to see - at least on top of the water. The report was blasted by
scientists.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Most of
the Gulf's bottom is muddy, but coral colonies that pop up every once in a
while are vital oases for marine life in the chilly ocean depths.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Coral
is essential to the Gulf because it provides a habitat for fish and other
organisms such as snails and crabs, making any large-scale death of coral a
problem for many species. It might need years, or even decades, to grow back.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It's
cold on the bottom, and things don't grow as quickly," said Paul
Montagna, a marine scientist at the Harte Research Institute for <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Gulf</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Mexico Studies</st1:PlaceName>
at <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Texas</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">A&M</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Corpus Christi</st1:place></st1:City> . He was not on the
expedition.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Montagna
said the affected area is so large, and scientists' ability to explore it
with underwater robots so limited that "we'll never be able to see
everything that happened down there."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Using a
robot called Jason II, researchers found the dead coral in an area measuring
up to 130 feet by 50 feet, about 4,600 feet under the surface.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"These
kinds of coral are normally beautiful, brightly colored," Fisher said.
"What you saw was a field of brown corals with exposed skeleton - white,
brittle stars tightly wound around the skeleton, not waving their arms like
they usually do."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Fisher
described the soft and hard coral they found seven miles southwest of the
well as an underwater graveyard. He said oil probably passed over the coral
and killed it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
coral has "been dying for months," he said. "What we are
looking at is a combination of dead gooey tissues and sediment. Gunk is a
good word for what it is."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Eric
Cordes, a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Temple</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> marine scientist
on the expedition, said his colleagues have identified about 25 other sites
in the vicinity of the well where similar damage may have occurred. An
expedition is planned for next month to explore those sites.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>When
coral is threatened, its first reaction is to release large amounts of mucus,
"and anything drifting by in the water column would get bound up in this
mucus," Cordes said. "And that is what this (brown) substance would
be: A variety of things bound up in the mucus."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>About
90 percent of the large coral was damaged, Fisher said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
expedition was funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The mission was part of a
four-year study of the Gulf's depths, but it was expanded this year to look
at oil spill damage.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In a
statement released Thursday night, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said the
expedition underscored that the damage to marine life from the oil spill is
"not easily seen." She added that more research was needed to gain a
"comprehensive understanding of impacts to the Gulf."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Given
the toxic nature of oil, and the unprecedented amount of oil spilled, it
would be surprising if we did not find damage," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>NOAA
did not provide any officials or scientists of its own who went on the
expedition. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said its researcher on the
expedition was unavailable.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Cordes
said that the expedition did not find dramatic visual evidence of coral
damage in other sites north of the well. But he said it was premature to say
coral elsewhere in the Gulf was not damaged.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The new
findings, though, could mean long-term trouble for the coral southwest of the
well, where computer models and research cruises mapped much of the deepwater
oil.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Referring
to one type of coral known as "gorgonians," Cordes said he had
never seen them "come back from having lost so much tissue. It would
have to be re-colonization from scratch."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>On The Web:</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Photos
of the dead coral: <a
href="http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/photos/research-photos/biology/fisher-photos/"
target="_blank">http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/photos/research-photos/biology/fisher-photos/</a>
<span class=yiv730820399print-footnote>[1]</span> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>More
about the NOAA expedition: <a
href="http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/10lophelia/welcome.html"
target="_blank">http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/10lophelia/welcome.html</a>
<span class=yiv730820399print-footnote>[2]</span> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>© 2010 Associated Press<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="75%" align=center>
</span></font></div>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Article
printed from <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">www.CommonDreams.org</font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>URL to article: <a
href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/06-1" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/06-1</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=yiv730820399msonormal><b><font size=2 color=black
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:black;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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