Dead Pelican, Breton Island (Agence France Press)
German Biologist Silvia Gaus has been quoted as saying that cleaning and attempting to rerelease oil-soaked birds is inhumane. In an article in Spiegel Online International, Gaus states that mid-term survival of cleaned birds is under 1%. Even the folks at Audubon Magazine are debating the issue on their blog. It's pretty hard to find accurate statistics on the subject but since oil-damaged feathers will fail to thermoregulate a bird's body temperature, it's not surprising. This evening on Keith Olbermann's show on MSNBC, I heard that BP exec Tony Hayward says that the environmental impact of the spill will be 'very, very modest'. Sure enough, I found the Agence France Press article quoting him as saying just that. Then I heard him say it on Rachel Maddow.
Someone really needs to get these people to wake up and see that they are not fooling anyone.
