Roseate Spoonbill by Bill Stripling, courtesy of the National Audubon Society

Two diaries on a progressive website, Daily Kos, include some wonderful photos of endangered animals impacted by the ongoing and growing Gulf of Mexico oil leak.  There are lots of photos there, and seeing them makes it even harder to imagine the potential loss of these animals.   Oil Impacted Creatures – A Photo Diary by Haole in Hawaii and  Oil Spill Threatening Endangered Birds: DK Greenroots by FishOutofWater.  They are definitely worth a look.  Pilot whales, pictured below, are said to have a brain as complex as humans, or nearly so. 

Pilot Whale

The following cartoons sum up some of the politics around the oil leak and the frustration of all of us who can only sit and watch and wait.  You can find more cartoons like this here.