Tragedy

The image above isn't of some kind of swamp creature. It's an oil-soaked Gull in the gulf, struggling to break free of the muck that it's covered in. Click the image to see other photos of how the Gulf oil spill is affecting the animals in that region. Scientist anticipate the problem to not go away anytime soon-these birds and sea creatures will be threatened by this spill for years to come. And the birds and fish photographed aren't the only animals in danger; The oil is a major threat to the animals that even live on or near the sea floor such as mussels, clams, crabs, eels, jellyfish, shrimp and deep-sea corals. The oil depletes the oxygen in the water, and scientist say that the ocean water stops or drastically slows down the oil from rising. What this means is that some of the oil will never reach the surface where it can biodegrade faster.

I know that this far inland we may not be affected by the oil spill physically, but if you're on this site you obviously care about animals, and by viewing the pictures of the poor animals covered in oil, not understanding whats happeneing to them, you can't help but be affected emotionally. The Gulf has been a part of many of our lives, and it's almost an "extended backyard" for us in South GA. Over 1,350 animals have been found affected as of June 8, and that count is definately not over. There are many organizations asking for donations for the relief effort, however only 2 non-profit organizations are officially designated to respond to the crisis, the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research and International Bird Rescue Research Center, both of which are being completely funded by BP and are not accepting donations for their efforts in the Gulf (however you can donate to them for future relief efforts). All other organizations are on "stand-by", waiting for their call to help.