Photo via John E. Lester

Arsenic is a naturally occurring toxin present in minerals and also introduced into the water by oil spills and the wastewater from oil rigs. Usually, the ocean can filter out arsenic through the sediments on the sea floor. However, researchers from Imperial College London have found that the presence of oil in seawater disrupts the ocean’s ability to filter out arsenic, which means it can build up and enter the food chain, causing anything from birth defects to changes in behavior among marine animals. That means the oil spill in the Gulf could be deadly in a whole new way in years to come.

A five-metre crocodile eats a bull shark at Yellow Waters in Kakadu National Park. Picture: Andrew Henderson Source: Daily Telegraph

Captain Paul Watson from Americas Business Council on Vimeo.

While BP is cheering that it has collected and burned 25,830 barrels of oil yesterday (only a quarter of the dialy total that is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico), BP has been commiting in a number of criminal acts. Please watch the interview yourself.

What I have been hearing from a lot of people is that no conservation agencies are allowed to go into the spill zone, nor are any of the fisherman or workers allowed to make any recordings. BP is trying to downplay this enormous environmental disaster, and Obama lets them come away with it.. The environmental impact will be not just in the Gulf of Mexico, but it will reach all over the Caribbean. The Gulf of Mexico and its mangroves, are a very important breeding ground for many pelagic fish and seamammals.

Can you only think how the US government would be treating the offender if BP were a natural person, instead of a legal person? It would have been put life long in prison — more likely, the death penalty..