Fuel spills are never a good thing, no matter which way you look at them. Ask the company which lost the fuel and they will tell you how much money they lost. Ask the whales... wait a second. We can't ask the whales. So, we just have to rely on what the scientists tell us. Fortunately for these killer whales in Canada, the 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel spilled in their natural habitat doesn't seem to be hurting them. Of course, they would probably prefer that the fuel was not co-inhabiting their waters, but the Orcas are apparently swimming through without too much trouble. Fortunately, according to scientists in the area, about 95 percent of the diesel fuel has evaporated, and the fumes do not seem to be harming the wildlife either. We'll call this one a narrow miss, but it is another reminder that biodiesel is much safer when it is accidentally spilled.

[Source: Physorg]

Oil spills are most definitely NOT green news. Unfortunately, they are exactly the opposite. Again, unfortunately, it seems that they are all too common off the coast of Argentina, which is causing problems for the local population of Magellanic penguins. Penguins need to be able to stay waterproof due to the fact that they enter and exit the water in frigid temperatures regularly. When the oil gets on the birds, they no longer have the protection that they need to survive the cold temperatures in which they live. Forty of the birds were rescued from the water and cleaned up. They should be back to their natural habitat "in about 15 days or so."

Hearing news like this, electric cars sound better and better all the time. Plus, if one were able to use solar or wind power, maybe the need to import and export so much oil would be decreased. The shipping and consequent occasional spilling of oil is another reason that locally grown petroleum substitutes like biodiesel are important. Just think of the penguins.

[Source: Live Science]

I ran across this article on Treehugger today, and thought I'd share it with you. It seems that a Japanese whaling ship is currently adrift and on fire near the South Pole. According to New Zealand, there is a danger to some 250,000 pairs of breeding penguins and other local wildlife. The captain of the ship has stayed aboard, along with 30 members of the original crew. The crew states that the fire is underneath the deck, above the engine room. They have "contained" the fire to this area of the ship and locked it down to keep it from spreading, although the do admit that it not completely under control (there was "still some potential" that the fire could flare up again) at this time.

Whaling does not have anything to do with this site, but any possible oil spill is something that should be kept an eye on. We have spoken about the disasters that an oil spill can have on the environment before, which is why oil drilling and transportation is such a serious matter. Let's hope this one turns out the best it can.

[Source: Treehugger]

Bristol Bay in Alaska has been free of oil drilling due to a ban on it by the U.S. government since 1990. That is soon to change, however, as both the Senate and President Bush have lifted the bans. The lifting of the bans was urged by Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. Environmentalists, however, are concerned with the effects drilling in the bay may have on the fishing of salmon, cod and crab in the area. A shot of the salmon in the bay is above.

Oh, if you are wondering where you have heard of Bristol Bay before... perhaps it was that one oil spill. What was that again? Oh yeah, the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Needless to say, not everyone is happy about the lifting of the bans and the plans that go along with it.

In other news, a seperate ban has also been lifted in the Gulf of Mexico. The lifting of that ban also makes drilling possible in those waters.

[Source: Yahoo! News]