BP Oil Spill Photos Posted By Greenpeace Following Freedom Of Information Request

Over two years after the disastrous BP oil spill wreaked havoc on the Gulf, Greenpeace has received photos of the destruction inflicted on marine life in the area.

According to a Greenpeace press release, the environmental group filed a Freedom of Information request in 2010 for the photos -- their request was one of over 50 FOIA requests submitted by Greenpeace to various agencies regarding the oil spill.

The spill occurred after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers on April 20, 2010. Far surpassing BP's initial estimates, about 50,000 barrels per day flowed from the well over the course of three months, according to a government-organized scientific team.

The Greenpeace press release states that the photos, many focused on oil-covered sea turtles, "appear to be part of the effort to collect evidence for the prosecution of BP and others."

The trial to assign damages for the oil spill has been delayed until January 2013. Last month, former BP engineer Kurt Mix became the first to face criminal charges from the disaster. HuffPost's John Rudolf reported that more arrests related to spill estimates are likely, according to legal experts.

The Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustee Council recently announced that they were kicking off a $60 million series of early restoration projects along the Gulf Coast.

Of the five turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico, four are endangered and the fifth species is threatened.

Greenpeace's John Hocevar stated in the organization's press release, "While the White House was trying to keep the emphasis on rosy stories of rescued animals being released back into the wild, they were sitting on these images of garbage bags full of Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles.”

View the photos below by NOAA, courtesy of Greenpeace:

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Comments

[LKR60]

01:57 PM on 05/09/2012

I am curious why Greenpeace feels the need to publish these images 2 years post event. Many of nearly identical images have been published as well as others. As nearly all environmental 'disasters' the consequences are not at all attractive. The difference between now and say 20 years ago when there were drilling off shore problems, more people now know how to help those affected and with new technology. It doesn't make it better at the time for those individual specimens, but many will at least live post treatment. When humans and the natural world (which humans are a part of) collide the effects are devastating. We as humans need to find a line, at some point, that we will just not cross.

[djpins2]

06:03 PM on 05/09/2012

It took two years for the government to complete the request. Very intentional move by the US government, Obama Administration, and BP to cover up the full impacts of the oil spill.

I applaud Greenpeace for sharing this truth to the world. BP must pay for its crimes.

[RidleyRover]

11:50 AM on 05/10/2012

Green Peace is using this to raise funds, they had nothing to do with the rescue and rehabilitation of any of the Gulf animals. They have lawyers and executives to pay and now is the time to ramp up the hysteria and get some funds coming in. Also, these photos are evidence for the government to use against BP, not proof that the government is protecting BP.

[sherblakely]

10:32 AM on 05/09/2012

Like it or not, I want oil drilling to stop. Pull oil wells out of ocean and gulf.

[themadcatlady]

05:42 AM on 05/10/2012

Ditto ditto ditto!

[grandmaw44]

09:29 AM on 05/09/2012

I would like to see what these creatures look like today. The photos say 2010. Like someone else said people will look at these creatures and feel sorry but so many humans are suffering more and they don't have any feelings for them. Granted this oil spill hurt the country but we have to look to the future. We need to find our own fuel and not depend on foreign countries especially with the way things are going overseas. Wake up America

[snowballinhell]

12:43 AM on 05/09/2012

The HP article written last year claiming oil was not killing the turtles, but shrimpers:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-cohn-rockefeller/endangered-sea-turtles-_b_882060.html

[JAMIE4PROGRESSIVES]

12:37 AM on 05/09/2012

This (and alot of other things)
National Disgrace...
We all need to march..to our State Capitals...on one day we all decide..to Oppose
this and other things our governrnent has done and is doing. 1) if its not good for them when why should we get stuck with it?(Our health care) 2) why should they get raises without our input?
3) life long benefits for a job they may have for only 4 years 4) offices paid for by us all over their state..(they can all conference chat with each other from their ONE LOCAL OFFICE) 5) becoming lobbyists after their Congressional terms 6) every bill that is passed has things added (bridge to nowhere) 7) why the hell do they get so many "breaks" from their "campus" (our Congress) its all BULLSHIT....pick a day to march folks..we are all digusted...whether you are Democrat or Republican..it doesnt matter...lets do it and make them all accountable to us..the American People!

[Dan Zuffi]

12:15 AM on 05/09/2012

I will not eat anything from the Gulf states; seafood, farmed catfish or farmed tilapia, pigs, veggies..nothing from there would be considered safe to eat after this disaster. It was marginal before the spill, but now it just ain't worth it.

[Maximus1209]

09:00 PM on 05/08/2012

This is heartbreaking to say the least!!!!!

[Abird]

07:25 PM on 05/08/2012

It is still laying on the bottom of the ocean floor. They probably cleaned up not even a 4th. IT IS STILL THERE!

[Jimm Milenski]

07:14 PM on 05/08/2012

Spill is what you do to milk or coffee. The BP thing is not a spill; it's a gusher.

[snowballinhell]

12:36 AM on 05/09/2012

An out of control gusher.

[politicojames]

06:55 PM on 05/08/2012

wanna hear something REAL ironic..? The majority of stock ownership is owned by mutual fund companies. That's right, 60% of the baby-boomers are trust fund heads, and most of those, I presume; live in Progressive areas of the country, and own mutual funds. So put that in your tofu tray, and EAT IT!! Hypocritical if you ask me...

[I Live Next Door]

09:05 AM on 05/09/2012

Of course... all the pot smoking hippies of the 1960's who are liberal and progressive as long as it does not effect them and thier ability to drive thier BMW 750i or MB 550 SL. Should make all the BP execs take a dip in a swimming pool filled with crude oil. Let them grow some tumors.

[recovco]

06:46 PM on 05/08/2012

I am the person you hate because I stop in the middle of the road to get out and move a turtle
to the other side before some heartless human comes along and runs over it without a so much
as a thought. THIS MAKES ME SICK! Oh, and did I mention I live on the Gulf of Mexico. These
sea turtles are such gentle creatures and look what BP did to them out of GREED. That's what
drives all these huge corporations, GREED! I hope they hang everyone at BP that had anything
to do with the Horizon disaster, and even that is not a bad enough punishment for what they
did to these poor creatures.

[mary collins finn]

02:18 AM on 05/09/2012

One of the most beautiful experiences of my life - to stand on Nosara beach in Costa Rica where the Ridley turtles come to nest late night early November.
Yet I still have to put gas in my car.

[Marceline Crutchfield]

06:04 PM on 05/08/2012

For the love of money!

[Ty Hancock]

05:58 PM on 05/08/2012

I am 18 years old. Why are you spending so much money smiling and saying "look we can clean up turtles" and making a big deal of that, when we have NEGATIVE amounts of money in our banks because of our 15 TRILLION dollar debt from China? Shouldn't we be more worried about a HUMAN's well being than our animal neighbors? They live on naturally. Humans need support, however, which costs money. Make jobs, pay off debts, and then we can worry about the turtles.

P.S. Why are we funding a group to save turtles while we fund people to kill babies? That just doesn't make sense if you ask someone with common sense.

[mary collins finn]

02:20 AM on 05/09/2012

Hopefully, you will grow up and learn some REAL common sense

[whindsoull]

05:48 AM on 05/09/2012

I'm 27 and I agree with him. How about you try to actually refute his argument via logical, rational means, rather than just making ad hominem attacks? You're attacking the person because the lack the cognitive ability to counter the argument.

[Wandaz]

07:56 AM on 05/09/2012

"Shouldn't we be more worried about a HUMAN's well being than our animal neighbors? They live on naturally." Well, Ty, as the photos illustrate, no they do not! And it is by our hand that they are destroyed. Our choices...our needs...our greed all dictate the success or failure of other living things. For someone who comments on abortion, I find your attitude towards humans vs other living things discordant.

Ty...nothing in life...no issue...no passion can be detached from its relationship with other things. A compassionate people (if we are to be labeled so) cannot separate its concern for fellow humans from its stewardship of other natural things...animals... plants...the oceans. There is no reason to think that we can only address one problem at a time...or two...or three. It is not fair to criticize people who want to care for the environment just because your beliefs place other problems higher on some arbitrary list.

As for your "fund people to kill babies" comment, please keep in mind that many false things have been said about women's health providers and the tax payer role in "funding abortions." If you're bright enough and emotionally mature enough to comment on the morals and ethics of people around the world and how they approach our planet's problems, then you should act responsibly and be properly informed. I do applaud your thoughtful comments.

[wllmpartridge]

12:25 PM on 05/09/2012

Couldn´t have said it better. Respectful, constructive, intelligent advice. Fanned.

[rmaynard]

05:53 PM on 05/08/2012

everyone who hates big oil should stop using it and all oil related products. Start by logging off and selling your computer BYE BYE

[TheIrishHalfblood]

03:47 AM on 05/09/2012

Oh you are sooo witty...

Humans have evolved from using coal to fire trains to beeing able to catch the rays of the sun and turn it into energy..humans have the possibilites to evolve instead of killing themselves off by ruthlessly destroying their planet, squandering ressources.

If you don´t realise it, poison the ocean means poisoning the water, the food chain and in the end the humans..so just saying you do not care is killing yourself off in the long run

[rmaynard]

05:48 PM on 05/08/2012

Oil will always be more important than a few turtles. Big deal.

[TheIrishHalfblood]

03:48 AM on 05/09/2012

You don´t realise that something that kills off ocean life also kills off human life?

...oh my.

Do you really think humans are somehow protected from toxic stuff that gets in the ocean and into the food chain and also will get on the soil and the groundwater?

[I Live Next Door]

09:13 AM on 05/09/2012

Yeah right... who cares if all the ecosystems are destroyed and we can no longer raise food to feed the planet... we can just eat each other. I'll take a fat spanish kid on rye please.