Mother Nature is no dummy, though we like to think she has no agenda or reason when she blasts the coastline with a hurricane that wipes out hundreds of thousands of homes and families. The fact of the matter is, Mother Nature has a plan, and though we may not always like her plans because they don’t adhere to our wants and needs as the so-called dominant species, she will prevail, and you can always bet on that.

In fact, scientists recently unearthed startling evidence in the Gulf Coast of Mother Nature doing her job, though the unfortunate thing is the eventual ecological impact it will have on sea life and the lucrative fishing industry.

Scientists discovered a series of microscopic organisms designed to eat gas and oil, which might seem like it has the power to help stabilize the oceanic ecosystem, but in the long term there is worry that overall oceanic life will suffer a massive shift for the worse as these organisms thrive and grow.

Oil pockets have been found inside crabs, which sustain sea turtles and coastline birds. Pyrosomes, a gelatinous organism that sustains endangers sea turtle species have been dying off in huge numbers–numbers that will negatively impact the sea turtles and possibly lead them to extinction.

Marine biologist, Rob Condon, who discovered the oil-eating organisms off the coast of Alabama, says, “You change the base of the food web, it’s going to ripple through the entire food web. Ultimately it’s going to impact fishing and introduce a lot of contaminants into the food web.”

One small alteration to the food web has repercussions we can’t even begin to imagine, and the BP oil spills is a massive intrusion on the food web.

Despite efforts to break up over 176 million gallons of oil and 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas in order to prevent it from contaminating the food web, researchers find that offshore crabs are carrying the oil back into the water, trapped inside their shells. As sea turtles feast on these crabs and contaminated pyrosomes, they too become contaminated, passing the contamination on to the species that feed on them.

The surge of oil-eating organisms could be Mother Nature’s way of trying to shift the balance and preserve herself, but when Mother Nature makes changes, the impact is often devastating. The number of species that suffer becoming endangered now as a result of the BP oil spill combined with the number of endangered species at risk of becoming extinct is mind-blowing.

I personally don’t think we’re prepared to handle the changes the Mother Nature has in mind to restore the balance.

(image via dougsuttles)