Here are some thought-provoking images from the National Geographic website."Bluefin Tuna
Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic
The Gulf oil spill comes at an especially bad time for Atlantic bluefin tuna, because the fish are now moving into their spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the Tag-a-Giant Foundation, which tracks the movements of more than a thousand bluefin tuna, the area where the oil spill is centered is one of the fish's primary breeding grounds.
Tuna eggs and larvae can be severely harmed by just a few drops of crude oil, said Harry Blanchet, finfish program manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Larger tuna are at risk if they eat smaller fish that have themselves ingested the oil.(See "Gulf Oil Spill a 'Dead Zone in the Making'?")
Published May 6, 2010"
- National Geographic
