Oil From The Deepwater Horizon Spill Sickened Fish For At Least A Year
Oily Fish Embryo This Gulf killifish embryo was exposed to oiled sediments from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. Three years later, killifish continue to show health defects related to oil toxicity from the spill. Benjamin Dubansky A new study discovered illness and birth defects among Gulf Coast fish nearly 16 months after the BP explosion. More than a year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, crude oil continued to sicken Gulf Coast fish, according to a new study. Gulf killifish, which are considered sentinel species that can indicate broader environmental problems, suffered heart defects, delayed hatching and other problems. Lead author Benjamin Dubansky of Louisiana State University and his colleagues sailed into the Gulf of Mexico four times between May 2010, just after the spill, and August 2011, collecting fish samples. Killifish are abundant and don't migrate, so they are good subjects for studying the oil's impact. The expeditions' time frame coincided with...