The Gulf of Mexico was not a pristine place even before the BP oil spill. Scientists asked to grade its health pre-spill gave it a “C” and graded its fish and wetlands a “D.”
The Associated Press sought these baseline assessments from 75 scientists as part of a series that will follow the recovery of the Gulf. Scientists only offered grades in their areas of expertise and an average was calculated for each category.
These are the pre-spill baseline averages on a scale of 0 to 100 _ from dead to pristine. The “overall” category grades are not averages of the subgroups beneath them.
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Overall health: 71
Wetlands: 65
Water quality: 69
Sea floor: 68
Food Web: 70.5
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Marine mammals overall: 72
-Whales: 69
-Dolphins: 75
-Manatees: 54
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Fish overall: 67
-Red snapper: 60
-Menhaden: 67
-King mackerel: 65
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Birds overall: 76
-Brown pelican 77
-Clapper rail 68
-Terns 72
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Crustaceans and mollusks overall: 71
-Shrimp: 72
-Crab: 68
-Oysters: 64
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Beaches overall: 74
Texas: 70
Louisiana: 63
Mississippi: 72
Alabama: 75
Florida: 80
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Other Gulf life overall: 72
Coral: 64
Sea Turtles: 57
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