Six months ago today I was at a meeting in Alaska entitled “NRDA in Arctic Waters”, where we were discussing research priorities that would help us prepare us for a hypothetical future oil spill in the Arctic ecosystem. On April 20th, we woke up for breakfast wondering where the BP employees had all gone. We heard rumblings that something big had happened, something that hadn’t yet hit the presses…today, six months later, the images from this event are burned into our minds forever.
Today is the 6 month anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which subsequently led to 86 days of oil gushing from BP’s Macondo well.
The Huffington post has a good round up Oil Spill stories on its site today, including some poignant photos, science updates and opinion pieces discussing the future for the Gulf.
The story about the current health of the Gulf is particularly interesting, and presents a good summary of the discussions that went on at the meeting I attended in St. Petersburg.
Some other items for your perusal:
NPR: 6 months later, much remains unknown
AP video (Youtube): Six months later, oil victims feel abandoned
AP: BP waives $75M cap for some oil spill claims
Washington Post: Reflections from the Gulf of Mexico
The BP oil spill already represents one of the most dramatic anthropogenic events in human history. Yet, this tradgedy will both require and inspire the interest of future biologists for decades. We need to support these young scientists, and what better way than through our Donors Choose program. My high school science teacher was truly an inspiration, and I wouldn’t be sitting in this lab today if it wasn’t for her (I was this close to becoming a lawyer!). Any amount will help…these kids need you!
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