Fearful Cuba Watches, Waits for BP Oil Spill
Fri, May 28 2010
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USN2813022020100528
* Cuban coast a major breeding ground for marine species
* Concern that Gulf current could carry oil to Cuba
* Cuba open to cooperation with U.S. against spill
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA, May 28 (Reuters) - Red flags went up on beaches in western Cuban this week, closing them briefly to swimmers amid rumors that the BP oil spill in the U.S. part of the Gulf of Mexico was forcing sharks into Cuban waters.
The government, through state-run press, quickly denounced the rumors as false and the beaches were reopened, but the incident reflected fears that the massive spill will reach Cuba and wreak havoc on an island still relatively untouched by modernity's environmental ills.
"Cuba, like all the countries in this area, is worried about the situation in the Gulf," said Osmani Borrego Fernandez, a director at the Guanahacabibes National Park at Cuba's western tip.
So far, he said, there has been no evidence of the oil, but "we are alert."
A trip along Cuba's coastline is like a trip back in time where vast stretches of palm-fringed beaches sit undeveloped and sea life abounds in the crystalline waters.
more at above link....
Fri, May 28 2010
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USN2813022020100528
* Cuban coast a major breeding ground for marine species
* Concern that Gulf current could carry oil to Cuba
* Cuba open to cooperation with U.S. against spill
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA, May 28 (Reuters) - Red flags went up on beaches in western Cuban this week, closing them briefly to swimmers amid rumors that the BP oil spill in the U.S. part of the Gulf of Mexico was forcing sharks into Cuban waters.
The government, through state-run press, quickly denounced the rumors as false and the beaches were reopened, but the incident reflected fears that the massive spill will reach Cuba and wreak havoc on an island still relatively untouched by modernity's environmental ills.
"Cuba, like all the countries in this area, is worried about the situation in the Gulf," said Osmani Borrego Fernandez, a director at the Guanahacabibes National Park at Cuba's western tip.
So far, he said, there has been no evidence of the oil, but "we are alert."
A trip along Cuba's coastline is like a trip back in time where vast stretches of palm-fringed beaches sit undeveloped and sea life abounds in the crystalline waters.
more at above link....
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