It looks like blue crabs could be the “canary in the coal mine” for oil spill environmental contamination. Researchers have discovered oil in the larvae of the blue crab, and that’s really bad news because of its place near the bottom of a very complex Gulf food chain. Considered a “keystone species,” blue crabs have been closely studied for years, meaning we have a lot of baseline information to work with. It’s not at all reassuring, but it illustrates that the effects of contamination may be varied and may take years to surface.
For more: http://blog.al.com/live/2010/08/crabs_give_evidence_of_oil_spi.html
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