With the onslaught of oil during the Big Oozy, the northern Gulf of Mexico became the Bermuda Triangle of bird life. But scientists have yet to produce a number that revaeals how many of our feathered friends were casualties. That's because science takes a little while  Over in Alabama, the Mobile Press-Register talks about a BP-funded experiment to count the  known as Carcass Drift. It involves experiment-ready dead birds, orange buoys with antennae and flyovers. Daphne du Maurier couldn't have set it up any better. Story here.

The former coastal policy advisor to five governors and founding editor of LaCoastPost, follows up his recommendations to Bobby Jindal on how to spend BP's forthcoming coastal restoration money with a breakdown of the political intersts behind the governor's recently unveiled list of uses for the cash.

Here's a few of the week's stories we missed in the usual whirlwind of activity around town:

Betty Jefferson Emotional in Second Turn on Witness Stand Against Renee Gill Pratt

BP's oil cleanup unveils buried bones

Sex, bribes, and science fairs: N.O. East school shut down

No buckjumpin' in the aisles at Emmys this year...

While BP may be sending some mixed messages in the claims department, things are moving forward in the environmental department. Yesterday, Gov. Bobby Jindal laid out the state's plans to spend $530 million in BP money on coastal projects. The money will not only repair what the Big Oozy fouled, but kick money toward coastal restoration projects that, for better or worse, have been sitting around for years. Instead of kicking the money toward real estate and science like NoDef Guest Writer Len Bahr wanted, the projects are mainly focused around the seafood industry and restoring barrier islands. Coverage: NOLA Lafourche

Last week, the old "service monkey" defense was found to be a non-starter, the city finally paved the way for bike taxis, and, as ever, BP was shifty. Like an afternoon thunderstorm, NoDef Numbers provides a little respite from the relentless pounding of news developments. Click on through to the other side to check them out, before things get all steamy again.

During the Big Oozy, BP promised to "Make Things Right" on the Gulf Coast. Turns out, they just forgot to mention that they wanted to define when this state of "Right" occurred. Today, with a shake of the magic 8-ball, the oil giant declared that they shouldn't have to pay anymore claims to workers to make up for money they will lose in the future. In BP's mind, the recovery is going swimmingly, so they don't need to pay anything else out, the AP reports. In BP's checkbook, they've paid less than $5 billion in claims of the original $20 billion the company set aside. So much for Ken Feinberg's quest to get angry fishermen to stop yelling at him.

Once, Transocean and BP were a match made in heaven. While the drilling Colossus' Deepwater Horizon rig bore into the Gulf floor, the British oil behemoth collected the crude. Then, Transocean's famed rig exploded, and the pair's visions of a long life together slipped through their fingers like an oiled pelican.Signs point to an ugly divorce. After BP blamed everyone for the explosion but BP, Transocean struck back yesterday with their own report that pins the whole thing on BP. Guess they should've signed a prenup.

Last year, around the time the Big Oozy was being capped and the TV crews were ready to move on, certain people wishing for the whole thing to be over were given the gift of algae. Oil-eating microbes, some scientists said, gobbled up all the oil, and made it disappear. It seemed the voice of Tony Hayward had summoned the microbes with his very plea for his life back. It was too good to be true! Well, the scientific process moves a little slower than CNN, but it seems there's a debate about the microbes to be had. Yesterday, a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal cast doubts about the validity of the Prophecy of the One-Celled Saviors.

A former policy advisor to Louisiana governors and editor of LACoastPost argues that with a new influx of cash aimed at coastal restoration, taking time for studies and science could finally yield meaningful change.

A Loyola University professor of environmental communication on the interaction of the scientific process and the information age after the Big Oozy.