Among the colorful sea urchins, Neptunes and half-naked women at Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade last weekend were some half-fish with a message.
Protestors took the sea celebration as an opportunity to voice their disgust with BP and the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Multiple mermaids covering themselves in “oil” (one enterprising parade-goer used chocolate syrup to simulate the effects of dripping oil), while other participants dressed as oil-covered pelicans and marched with anti-BP signs protesting BP’s lack of action as its nears 70 days since the oil first started spilling into the gulf.
The message was sent while warnings that the spill, which reportedly has been dumping between 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf, could soon reach the Atlantic Ocean — home of Coney Island Beach.
