I am sure many of you heard or read about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 men and unleashing natural gas and oil into the Gulf. In fact, 134 million pounds of crude oil and 4 million pounds of gas went into the water. More than twenty species of wildlife were affected and many fishermen lost their way of life. Plus, scientists are still investigating the effects of the spill on the ecosystem.

So far, we know ongoing dolphin deaths are connected to the disaster, and 2014 witnessed dolphin deaths at four times historic levels on the coast of Louisiana. We also know 32% of laughing gulls in the Gulf died as a result of the spill, coral colonies are showing significant oil damage, 12% of brown pelicans lost their lives, and 27,000-65,000 Kemp ridley sea turtles died. Sadly, there are many more findings.

What is the good news? Scientist, Paul Stamets of Washington, has found that oyster mushrooms can eat petroleum. He is well-known for his research and has been working with the EPA, the Washington State of Transportation, the Amazon Microrenewal Project in Ecuador, and others. He even has a plan for the Fukushima nuclear disaster. After the tsunami hit in 2011 he posted “The Nuclear Forest Recovery Zone” based on the fact that mushrooms can remove and absorb heavy metals from soils.

It is time to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and move to alternative energy. Yet until we get off the fossil fuel diet, it is amazing to know that people are working on novel ways to clean up destructive chemicals and hazardous waste. Dolphins and humans can all benefit from some amazing mushrooms.