Title: Gulf Oil Has Entered The Food Web, Scientists Say
Author: Seth Borenstein
Publication Date: 11/8/10
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/08/gulf-oil-has-entered-the-_n_780560.html
Summary:
For the first time ever, scientists say that oil has made it into the food web. After the BP oil spill a lot of oil was in the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers say that plankton' in those waters have been eating the oil! Many researchers say that this isn't bad at all. William Graham says that the oil has continued its way on in the carbon cycle because marine life has eaten the carbon in the oil as if they were eating the carbon in marine producers. Surprisingly, it is said that the marine creatures from the Gulf of Mexico are still healthy to eat even though they have oil in them. The amount of plankton in the Gulf of Mexico is said to be equal or greater that before the BP oil spill.
Opinion:
I think that it is great that the oil from the BP oil spill didn't affect the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. It is cool to know that it has made its way into the food web in that area. I am surprised to know that there are the same if not more plankton in the Gulf of Mexico even though they have oil in them! I never realized that this oil is still in the carbon cycle. I picked this article because it is really cool to learn that oil has entered the food web in the Gulf. It is important to know that the fish are healthy in the Gulf of Mexico because some people were concerned that they weren't.
Questions:
1. Do you think that it is good or bad that plankton have been eating the oil? Why or why not?
2.Do you think that it is cool that the oil has made it into the carbon cycle?
3.Do you trust that the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico is healthy to eat? Why or why not?
4.If you were a scientist would you be concerned about the food web in that area?
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of comforting to know. Though plankton are ok, birds that eat the plankton would not be able to eat them since they are underneath the oil covered water. When the birds swoop down to get a mouthful of water, hopefully with some healthy plankton, they'll still be bathed in a sticky, slick substance of oil. So even though the plankton's are ok, some of the food chain will be affected by the oil directly.
http://www.worldculturepictorial.com/blog/content/dig-earth-crust-oil-or-grave-lives-soaked-choked-oil
That link will bring you to a website of pictures, scroll to the second to last one down and that’s kind of what I was talking about. It is a little bit graphic so as they say on TV… viewers digression is advised.
I actually remember hearing about how plankton would be able to clean it up, but it would take a while. What ever the final solution is, it's going to be a difficult task.
Extensions:
This website is a huge article talking about the spill as a whole...don't read it all unless you want to, but there’s a particular section "The slow passage of pollution" in bold near the bottom, which covers what we talk about in class kind of and contradicts Andrew's summary. There is definitely room for debate...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7145370.ece
Answers to Questions:
1) A good thing...if there was an overload of pizza, and humans were able to eat pizza to reduce the abundance, then it is a mutual relationship between the object harmed and the object helping. Plankton are able to eat oil and thus can help the earth’s waters.
3) No, I believe it's the Hudson Bay, don't quote me, which is so polluted that you absolutely do not want to eat any marine life in it. Oil is a pollutant and is toxic to humans and should not be consumed, then again, I may be picky at times.
4) As you read earlier, the birds are dying because of the oil, and as we learned from that Gizmo assignment, one change in a population, will result in a change in all populations.
Questions:
1) I was still wondering whose fault this all was in the first place. At first, I believed it was BP's, and then I heard it was the Presidents, and more ideas spread over time.
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ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to see that the oil did not have a negative affect the plankton! I would have thought that other substances in oil would have harmed the plankton even if the carbon does not. It is good that the plankton were not harmed this gives scientists one less species to worry about. There are many animals that have been harmed from oil spill. Animals that eat plankton will still be harmed by the intake of the oil in the water. Plankton will help the process of cleaning up the oil spill but it will be take a while to clean it all up.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
Will the intake of oil for plankton increase the number of plankton?
Answer to Questions:
1)Yes I think it is good that the plankton are eating the oil, it will reduce and help remove oil from the gulf.
2)Yes, I think it is very interesting to see oil being used in the carbon cycle.
3)No, I do not trust that marine life in the Gulf of Mexico is healthy enough to eat because there are many animals that were affected by oil.
4)Yes, I would be somewhat concerned because what if the animals that eat the plankton are affected by the oil in the plankton?
I think that this is not as bad as most people are thinking. Everyone is running around panicking that their food is contaminated when most likely it is not. However, I still believe that we should keep an eye on this food chain because not all of the danger is completely gone. Sure, experts and scientists have found results that show the carbon ratios returning to normal, but it is impossible to tell because carbon rates are always changing. The speed which the oil moved through the food chain was extremely fast and can and may have an effect on the overall health of the ecosystem of the Gulf. You may ask, how does an oil spill affect us, but there is an answer. We are not affected directly, but beaches become polluted, therefore people can no longer swim and our money which gets paid to the government gets used to pay for the procedure of cleaning up the spill. All in all, I think that it is a shame that this spill occurred, but I do believe that the Gulf food chain will not be as seriously affected as many others predict.
ReplyDeleteExpansion: http://news.discovery.com/earth/oil-entering-gulf-food-chain.html This is an interesting link further showing the effects of the oil entering the food chain.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/01/96909/oil-found-in-gulf-crabs-raising.html This is an article telling about the effect on fishery because of the oil spill.
Answer to Question # 2: No, I do not think that it is cool that this oil has entered the carbon cycle. The oil could potentially have serious effects on animals and plants because it has become part of the carbon cycle.
3 Questions:
1. Why did the oil become food?
2. How did carbon ratios in microscopic life return to normal?
3. Will the oil spill affect eggs and larvae and the future production of crabs, shrimp, and fish?
I agree with Andrew. If oil is in all the plankton, you would think that this would affect all of the other animals, because of the food web. It's cool to know that it's actually NOT affecting the plankton. Hmm. I just hope this is not a temporary thing. It could affect the plankton in the future.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
1. Is the oil affecting any other sea creatures?
2. How many sea creatures actually eat plankton?
3. How much plankton is in the gulf?
Continued:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://planetsave.com/files/2010/06/BP-Oil-spill-response.jpg&imgrefurl=http://planetsave.com/2010/06/16/take-action-in-response-to-bp-oil-spill/&usg=__MUGXwiqQGOsxefRelnR8GpZzPm8=&h=398&w=570&sz=81&hl=en&start=0&sig2=6Ba4fe-i5q3nB4efKLNLfw&zoom=1&tbnid=sagXqPho4be-3M:&tbnh=141&tbnw=183&ei=kFlYTaXYBYOclgf-6on9Bg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbp%2Boil%2Bspill%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D566%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=243&oei=kFlYTaXYBYOclgf-6on9Bg&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0&tx=58&ty=105
I thought this picture represents the oil spill well. It really shows what it's actually done and where it is.