Word out of the Washington Post today reveals biologists are capturing large and small mouth bass from the Potomac River with sexual and hormonal abnormalities that call into question the safety of the water for humans.
Seems the scientists are seeing male fish carrying eggs and displaying female tendencies. At one fishing site, nearly 80 percent of the male fish pulled out of the water, either had eggs or some type of female sexual organ development. Seven out of thirteen female fish showed similar tendencies in reverse.
The intersex condition, as the biologists call it, doesn’t change the outward appearance of the fish, only internally.
Biologists actually began finding the fish back in 2003 and apparently didn’t think the problem was as wide spread as it now seems to be.
The question now arises for humans....should we drink the water? Millions do...their tap water is taken directly from the Potomac River, just like we, here in Ohio, get our tap water from the Ohio.
Scientists, if you trust them, say that drinking the water is different from spending your entire life submerged in it. Therefore humans probably need not fear any endocrinal disruptions in the way the fish have been affected. But officials readily admit they don’t know what is causing this or why. They do think it is pollution connected.
Scientists keep saying, “pay no attention to man behind the curtain” however, after Chernobyl, after love canal, after 9/11 and what’s happened to the health of the rescue workers, I’m not sure I trust scientists anymore.
Someone else, with more sense said, “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, guess what? It’s a duck.”
Don’t know about you, but I’m sticking to bottled water for drinking and will stop taking long luxurious soaking baths in favor of short, short showers.
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