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Oil Spill “Dolphinitley” affects Barataria Bay
Where were you on April 20, 2010? Were you sitting at home watching television, or on
vacation with family? Were you like me and sitting in a classroom? Where ever you were, you
heard about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I was sitting in class, in 6th grade, when the teacher
announced a new assignment; we were going to talk about the effects of the Deepwater Horizon
oil spill. We spent a day in class talking about how the spill happened and the affects it possibly
had on the Gulf of Mexico and the creatures who lived there. The spill was very dangerous to
those who lived in possible affected areas surrounding the Gulf. Our assignment was to create a
flyer to raise awareness. One thing that wasn’t mentioned buy my teacher that day were the
ecosystems surrounding the main spill in the Gulf until research was done. Ocean ecosystems
such as the gulf supply many resources to bays and coves all around the surrounding land. Once
the main source of water and food and other resources are contaminated, then the outside
ecosystems that rely on that main source, die or are very harshly affected.
Lori H. Schwacke and a team of eligible people preformed a scientific experiment to test
the effects of the oil spill on dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. The common bottlenose
dolphin is native to Barataria Bay, Louisiana, and many wildlife researchers became concerned
for their health after the incident. To perform the experiment, Schwacke’s team used a capture
and release method for thirty-two dolphins, twenty femalefemales and twelve males, from
Barataria Bay and compared the results to twenty-seven dolphins., Ffourteen were female and
thirteen male, from Sarasota Bay, Florida. They would catch them with a net and bring them up
as far as they could to reach down and untangle them but so they were still in water. They tested
the dolphins for health issues, such as interrupted pregnancy, lung disease, tooth loss and other
diseases. Most dolphins have anywhere between 76 and 108 teeth regularly, but the Barataria
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Bay ones had very few if any remaining. Most of the tests ran had shown negative effects on the
subjects, some dolphins were even considered to be in grave condition. No one realized how big
an impact oil could have on marine health. No one knew that the BB dolphins would get
pulmonary masses, but they did. No one knew that the dolphins would be underweight, but they
were. Roughly 50% of the dolphins in Barataria Bay were given a “guarded or worse prognosis”
based off the study.
Dolphins are a big impact factor for all organisms in an area. These dolphins tested in
Barataria Bay in the study show how when one big bad thing happens, it effects everyone and
everything in its wake. My flyer, from 6th grade, rose awareness about the effects of the oil spill
on the Gulf of Mexico. I included pictures of the pelicans drenched in oil and the nasty water that
came from it, but the thing I did not realize until now is that more than just the Gulf area was
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