![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kambrielThe terrifyingly heartbreaking images of Gulf coast shore birds are starting to surface:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html
This kind of suffering isn't going to stop anytime soon as the oil continues to gush every minute of the day and night. Even if/when they do get the source of the leak under control, what's already been put forth will leave a legacy we'll be dealing with ~ and more importantly, the animals of the affected areas will be dealing with ~ for many years to come.
For weeks now, I've helplessly wished I could tell the birds, the fish ~ all the wildlife in the area to swim, crawl, fly and get out of the way... to ~please~ not take a drink or a swim or a dive in that oily/sheen covered area. To try not to ingest any of those dispersed bits floating amidst the depths of the waves through their fragile gills. But for all of Nature's wisdom, we simply don't have the capability to "tell" them and give them that kind of potentially life saving warning. They're simply left to their own devices, and when faced with something they've likely never had any experience dealing with before, well... this simply isn't something that they tend to get to get a second chance to learn from once wings are coated and beaks are filled.
I remember when "spills" (though this isn't so much a finite spill as much as a continuous, ongoing gush) happened in the past and birds needed help, volunteers rose to the occasion. Like when the penguins had to have oil cleaned off of them, but that stripped their natural protective coating such that it no longer properly insulated them, so volunteers around the world made and donated miniature handknit wool sweaters en masse for them to wear in the interim, and it saved lives. Why has there been no such "call to action" yet with this disaster? Are volunteers being kept away because of toxicity levels? Does this have anything to do with the massive amounts of chemical dispersants which are being used? Is it tied in to stories of the hearty fishermen in the area who were hired for official clean-up purposes that we are now hearing of apparently falling ill with breathing difficulties, chronic coughs, nausea, etc... (from the oil, or again, perhaps the unprecedented amount of dispersants)?
Is there a reason we don't have a massive volunteer effort underway? Do we just passively wait for this to "be handled"? Because I believe if we were welcomed/allowed/called forth to do what we could, we as a people would. It's just so hard to sit back and "let" a tragedy happen, and know that lives are being and will continue to be lost, before our very eyes.
Updated post here w/info on how to help: https://kambriel.dreamwidth.org/229377.html
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html
This kind of suffering isn't going to stop anytime soon as the oil continues to gush every minute of the day and night. Even if/when they do get the source of the leak under control, what's already been put forth will leave a legacy we'll be dealing with ~ and more importantly, the animals of the affected areas will be dealing with ~ for many years to come.
For weeks now, I've helplessly wished I could tell the birds, the fish ~ all the wildlife in the area to swim, crawl, fly and get out of the way... to ~please~ not take a drink or a swim or a dive in that oily/sheen covered area. To try not to ingest any of those dispersed bits floating amidst the depths of the waves through their fragile gills. But for all of Nature's wisdom, we simply don't have the capability to "tell" them and give them that kind of potentially life saving warning. They're simply left to their own devices, and when faced with something they've likely never had any experience dealing with before, well... this simply isn't something that they tend to get to get a second chance to learn from once wings are coated and beaks are filled.
I remember when "spills" (though this isn't so much a finite spill as much as a continuous, ongoing gush) happened in the past and birds needed help, volunteers rose to the occasion. Like when the penguins had to have oil cleaned off of them, but that stripped their natural protective coating such that it no longer properly insulated them, so volunteers around the world made and donated miniature handknit wool sweaters en masse for them to wear in the interim, and it saved lives. Why has there been no such "call to action" yet with this disaster? Are volunteers being kept away because of toxicity levels? Does this have anything to do with the massive amounts of chemical dispersants which are being used? Is it tied in to stories of the hearty fishermen in the area who were hired for official clean-up purposes that we are now hearing of apparently falling ill with breathing difficulties, chronic coughs, nausea, etc... (from the oil, or again, perhaps the unprecedented amount of dispersants)?
Is there a reason we don't have a massive volunteer effort underway? Do we just passively wait for this to "be handled"? Because I believe if we were welcomed/allowed/called forth to do what we could, we as a people would. It's just so hard to sit back and "let" a tragedy happen, and know that lives are being and will continue to be lost, before our very eyes.
Updated post here w/info on how to help: https://kambriel.dreamwidth.org/229377.html
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 01:51 am (UTC)Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (http://www.crcl.org/), the Audubon Society (http://louisianacoast.audubon.org/), WaterKeepers Alliance (http://saveourgulf.org/), GreenPeace (http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenpeaceusa_blog/2010/05/12/volunteer_info_for_gulf_oil_spill), and Louisiana Bucket Brigade (http://www.labucketbrigade.org/article.php?list=type&type=181) all link to ways to volunteer and/or donate to the relief efforts.
More ways to help (http://gulfoilspill.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978226357) and some more ways (http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/).
no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 04:30 am (UTC)I wonder if, after all the horrors of the past decade, as a society we've become inured to this kind of horror.
True nightmares would come to pass if that ever actually becomes the case. Unfortunately, sometimes you do have to hit "rock bottom" before a clear wake up signal occurs. Then again, sometimes one isn't lucky enough to survive that process...
I think the outrage is there. Unfortunately, some of the outrage is being grossly misplaced and manipulated for attempted political gain. For others, the outrage is an energy in dire need of constructive direction.
All I know is that with as long as other plants and animals have survived on this planet, compared to the tiny fraction of time that humans have been here, we humans seem to be on the path to wearing out our welcome and leaving a real mess of the place disturbingly fast.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 05:50 am (UTC)Hear me out, I'm not insensitive, I donate to ALOT of animal charities and have gone vegetarian for them. I absolutely will take my fair share and then some of the pain my previous decisions have caused and I fight against such things now but for there to even be a NEED to ask for donations appalls me. They have the money to "fix" this. They have enough to fund this cleanup effort. Why are we even being asked?
no subject
Date: 2010-06-04 06:55 pm (UTC)This entire state of affairs is so incredibly broken, as summed up by that quote down-thread from the UW professor who states that washing the oil off birds isn't "cost effective" because so many of them die anyway. Really? There is a price now on pain? We're supposed to decide it's okay to stand by and let innocent creatures suffer terribly because it's cheaper? So right now it comes down to people like us, because the ones who caused this and the ones in power aren't stepping up. You're completely right--it's completely appalling that there is a need for money and volunteers. I don't have a great deal of faith that BP with ever be held financially and/or legally responsible.