BP is Blocking Photos of Dead Wildlife - by Patty Mooney

Every thinking person has been horrified by the goings-on at the Gulf of Mexico - the impaling of Mother Earth with BP's oil rig has created the largest environmental disaster in history. We really have no idea what the long-term effects of this will be. When you tamper with a finely balanced ecosystem in a manner such as this, all bets are off.

Much as the Bush administration did not permit photographs of returning coffins from Iraq, so BP now is trying to keep photographs of affected wildlife hidden from the eyes of America. Out of sight, out of mind, correct? Laura Goldman writes the following in her June 5th article, "BP Tries to Block Photos of Dead Wildlife:"

For animal lovers, one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the Gulf spill is the oil-drenched wildlife washing up on shore. If you're too horrified to look at any photos, you're in luck — BP doesn't want you to see them.

As of Friday morning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s tally of dead animals collected in the Gulf area was 527 birds, 235 sea turtles (six to nine times the average rate), and 30 mammals, including dolphins. Yesterday morning, the spill washed over Queen Bess Island (called “Bird Island” by locals), which is a habitat for Louisiana brown pelicans, the state bird that was once an endangered species. Forty-one of the birds were coated with oil, and that number is expected to rise.

Have you seen the terrible pictures of all this carnage? Neither have I. And neither has anyone else.

Read the rest of the story at Change.org.