[Taxacom] Endangered populations in Gulf of Mexico

[Kenneth Kinman]

Dear All,          
      Does anyone have an opinion on the most vulnerable population of
any species from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill?    The media seems to
have concentrated on birds, especially least terns and brown pelicans.
However, these actually seem to be vulnerable/threatened subspecies, not
threatened full species (perhaps as opposed to full species of reptiles,
amphibians, or invertebrates or many plants) so I wonder if human's
particular love-affair with birds skews our concern with species most at
risk in this situation.                        
        So my question is whether there are other populations,
particularly full species which are even more vulnerable to the oil
spill.  Not that I am downplaying the threat to those particular bird
subspecies, but are there species of other organisms (non-birds) that
are even more threatened by this oil spill?  
         ---------Ken Kinman