US downplayed effect of Deepwater oil spill on whales, emails reveal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/24/whale-death-deepwater-oil-spill?intcmp=122


A dead sperm whale floating in the Gulf of Mexico seen from the deck of NOAA ship Pisces on 15 June 2010. Photograph: NOAA

A cache of newly uncovered documents from the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – including gruesome photographs of a dead whale – are raising questions about the environmental cost of the disaster and the price tag the oil company will have to pay to set it right.

Documents, obtained by the campaign group Greenpeace under freedom of information provisions and made available to the Guardian, offer a rare glimpse into how many whales came into close contact with the gushing BP well during the oil spill.

They also show Obama administration officials tightly controlling information about whales and other wildlife caught up in the disaster.

The plight of wildlife caught up in the oil spill – especially endangered species such as sea turtles and sperm whales – has enormous financial implications for BP.