Scientist: Oil in estuarine food chain

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi have found oil in the postlarvae of blue crabs entering coastal marshes along the Gulf Coast. Harriet Perry, director of the Center for Fisheries Research and Development at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, found droplets of hydrocarbons in blue crab and fiddler crab larvae. The oil appears to be trapped between the hard, outer shell of the crab and its inner skin. Perry said she's sampled Mississippi coastal waters for 42 years and has never seen this. (Source: Sun Herald, 07/01/10)