BP, Feds cover up dolphin deaths in Gulf

The oil giant BP and the US Federal Government seem to be collaborating to cover up a recent rash of dolphin deaths in the oil spill area.

The extent of environmental damage since the Gulf oil dispersal incident continues to grow, while government officials downplay the severity of the disaster. Over 200 dead dolphins, mostly young infants or premature calves, have recently appeared in the affected area. Yet BP’s role is being underplayed, as possibly fraudulent environmental studies are being undertaken by the Federal government to shift the spotlight away from any wrongdoing by the giant oil corporation.

The story has been surfacing through such channels as The Huffington Post and the Care2 Action Network .

Wildlife biologist and corporate corruption watchdog Jim Wiegand writes, “BP has an MO in dealing with the dead dolphins and all the other impacts from the oil spill. They will have their corrupt biologists and institutions of higher learning (dependent on corporate grants) stay silent or help to create bogus studies. It really is fraud, but there will never be any accountability.”

A little digging has, in fact, produced evidence of possible conflict of interest, as BP itself has provided funds to study the disaster (Huffington Post). As Mr. Wiegand observes, “There is no better way to rig the results than to fund the studies - 500 million to Cover-up the effects? 500 million invested to fund rigged studies could mean tens of billions less in fines for BP.”

Now our Federal government, rather than protecting our best interests, seems to be protecting the corporations, to the detriment of our living planet and even our own children. As with the ‘Wind Farm’ industry (a so-called ‘green’ energy source that is neither energy efficient nor wildlife or Earth-friendly), big business trumps human and environmental rights in favor of corporate profits for the greedy elite.

An excerpt from the Care2 article by Jake Richardson states: “At the moment no one knows exactly why there has been such a large surge in Gulf dolphin deaths. In order to help document the very disturbing trend, the National Marine Fisheries Service hired contract wildlife biologists to collect specimens and tissue samples. However, these scientists were also instructed to keep their discoveries to themselves. One of the biologists said, “This throws accountability right out the window. We are confused and angry because they claim they want team work, but at the same time they are leaving the marine experts out of the loop completely.” (Source: TheDailyMail.uk).*

Why is the Federal government colluding in this cover up? Take into account the deep-water drilling permits being issued so widely even after the disaster. When the country needs to be very aggressively exploring alternative energy sources, our leaders are throwing themselves more heavily into oil exploration; obviously with no regard whatsoever for the health of our precious, vital marine ecosystem.

Mr. Wiegand continues, “Surely everyone can remember the corrupt experts speaking on behalf of tobacco industry. This is how the game is played. After all, the less damage the public knows about related to the spill, the less liability for BP. And even when an amount is determined of 100 billion or so, how will anyone ever know if they really pay it out. These guys are the masters of SLIME. Remember the bank failures. The corporations finagled it so public would pay for their losses but the incredible profits pouring in are all theirs. How much more corrupt can you get? What will happen with Libya? I will tell l you, the tax payers and soldiers will foot the bill but the spoils will go to the corporations.”What is perhaps most disturbing is the eerie similarity between the skewed research studies here and tactics used by the huge Wind Farm conglomerates to protect corporate bottom lines, not America’s wildlife or our health; worse is the apparent cooperation by our Federal Government in assisting the corporate cause, placing profits over the wellbeing of our food-producing oceans and the irreplaceable life-forms depending on them – including us.

One has to wonder that, if the waters are so toxic as to cause premature or stillborn dolphin calves and other wildlife mortality (including endangered sea turtles), what repercussions will the oil catastrophe play in our human food supply; fisheries, shellfish and even the algae’s now routinely harvested for human consumption? We, like dolphins, are among the planet’s ‘apex predators’. What is lethal to them will be lethal to us.

For those business-interests that defend wildlife-death cover-ups as being insignificant in the quest for ‘human-first’ focus, the question remains; if big corporations claim to care about humans, they need to also care about the health of the entire ecosystem that we depend on.

So, if BP as well as our own government is attempting to deceive us by downplaying the full extent of ecosystem damage, who are they trying to protect?

One source, who declined to be named for fear of repercussion, agreed that the grant money was tantamount to hush money, and in a private correspondence stated; “During the "BP incident" an environmental professor at a major university here was on radio being interviewed about its possible consequences. He seriously down-played any negative consequences and was saying things that were utterly nonsensical, but they sounded good. Afterwards, I e-mailed him asking why he was saying things that I knew that he knew were not true. He didn't answer me. Later, I learned that he and the University had received a $25 million grant to conduct relevant environmental research (rather than actually doing something about ‘the problem’. Another Professor confirmed that it was ‘hush money’.”

More, BP has been accused of breaking agreements to settle damages to persons harmed by the spill.

To highlight just how complex the legal and moral issues can become, the official term of the Gulf oil incident is ‘oil dispersal’, not ‘oil spill’. The language is important because it has direct bearing on any penalties, fees and legal repercussions BP might face.

It appears that the very authorities who should be protecting the wildlife, resources and citizens of the United States are willingly selling out to big corporations, and in the process pushing dolphins, whales, sea turtles and countless other species towards to brink. If that makes you nervous about your own future, it should. Only by shining to spotlight on the corruption and creating a public outcry can we demand honesty and accountability.