Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisinglyshallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again.
Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some strange phenomena.
Fish and other wildlife seem to be fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast in a trend that some researchers see as a potentially troubling sign.
The animals' presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily get devoured by predators.
"A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable," said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist.
The nearly two-month-old oil spill has created an environmental catastrophe unparalleled in US history as tens of millions of gallons of have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life.
For nearly four hours Monday, a three-person crew with Greenpeace cruised past delicate islands and mangrove-dotted inlets in Barataria Bay off southern Louisiana. They saw dolphins by the dozen frolicking in the oily sheen and oil-tinged pelicans feeding their young. But they spotted no dead animals.
"I think part of the reason why we're not seeing more yet is that the impacts of this crisis are really just beginning," Greenpeace marine biologist John Hocevar said.
The counting of dead wildlife in the Gulf is more than an academic exercise; the deaths will help determine how much BP pays in damages.
As for the fish, researchers are still trying to determine where exactly they are migrating to understand the full scope of the disaster, and no scientific consensus has emerged about the trend.
(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)
(Agencies)
海豚和鲨鱼竟出现在美国佛罗里达州海域的浅水区；鲻鱼、螃蟹、鳐鱼和其它一些小鱼成群聚集在阿拉巴马州的一个码头外；浑身沾满油污的海鸟跌入沼泽，再也没有露出头来。 对英国石油公司漏油事件后果进行研究的海洋学家们日前观察到了一些奇怪的现象。 鱼类和其他野生动物似乎正逃离被漏油污染的墨西哥湾，聚集到沿岸清洁的水域避难，一些研究人员认为这一趋势可能是个不好的征兆。 动物出现在沿岸水域说明它们的栖息地遭到了严重污染，大量的动物聚集在一起则会导致鱼类因缺氧而大批死亡。而且这些动物也会很容易地被食肉动物捕食。 杜克大学海洋生物学家拉里•克劳德说："一个类似的情形是：在森林起火时，为什么野生动物会逃往森林边缘地带？由于栖息的海洋环境被破坏，将会有大批的鱼类、鲨鱼和海龟试图逃离这一海域。" 持续了近两个月的漏油事件给美国带来了史上空前的生态灾难，目前已有数千万加仑的原油泄漏至墨西哥湾生态系统。科学家在试图了解漏油对数千种海洋生物影响的同时，发现了一些异于寻常的现象。 本周一，绿色和平组织组建的一个三人工作小组在路易斯安那州南部巴拉塔里亚湾美丽的岛屿和点缀着红树林的水湾附近巡游时，看见十几只海豚在油污中嬉戏，身上沾满油污的鹈鹕在哺育幼崽。但他们并没有发现死去的动物。 绿色和平组织海洋生物学家约翰•霍瑟瓦尔说："我觉得我们没有看到更多受害动物的部分原因是因为这场灾难的影响才刚刚开始。" 计算墨西哥湾死亡野生生物数量不仅是项学术活动，还将有助于确定英国石油公司的赔偿数额。 目前，研究人员仍在努力确定墨西哥湾海洋鱼类的确切迁移地点，以全面了解灾难的整体影响范围。有关这一迁移趋势的科学结论尚未达成。
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