Environmental Disaster of Epic Proportions

Environmental Disaster of Epic proportions
Today I spent most of the day out in boats photographing the BP Oil Spill affected areas in South Louisiana. It was heartbreaking to say the least. As a nature photographer who has routinely tried to display the very best of nature in my images, this was difficult. To look around and see the potential beauty and as a scientist, realize the potential harm, my heart broke. I hear the stories of how the people here are being affected. Their livelihoods, their homes, their families, their beautiful backyard. They are angry and rightly so. As I watch Brown Pelicans on a rookery, some of their island was coated with oil. They are surrounded by “protective boom” to keep the oil out.. I wonder how they know to stay inside the boom. Were there training and information sessions for them on the dangers of sitting in oil slick water, or trying to scoop up fish from water full of oil, emulsified down into the water column? I think not. The boom I saw set out today was somewhat of a joke. Not maintained, not complete and any small chop blown up by wind can cross the boom and with the oil down under the surface, the boom prevents none of that.
And where is the clean up? In the past 3 days of looking around the epicenter of this ecological disaster, the only effort I have seen is the boom being placed. I have seen the presence of most of the agencies.. USFWS, USCG, Army Reserve, LA State Fish and Wildlife, but I haven’t seen the EPA around at all. I heard a story from one of the boat captains that 2 days ago shrimp trawlers were out in one of the bays going back and forth over oil that had been spray with dispersant. He asked one of his friends who was piloting one of the boats what they were doing. The reply was “breaking up the oil so it will sink”.. and this is considered CLEANUP? The government and President have said they are doing all they can to help, while there are thousands of volunteers waiting, being told that it is a liability if they get out there to help. The American people need to be told what is being done to start cleaning this up and to prevent any further encroachment of BP oil on American soil. We need to have confidence that our government is going full throttle, not rhetoric. Show us the evidence, show us your effort. You tell us you’re doing something, but I’ve been there in the heart of the disaster, and I don’t see it. We need to call our Congress representatives and tell them to get on the ball. We need to support organizations like Defenders of the Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation who are trying to help.

This Isn't Venice Italy

Having just returned from a trip to Greece and Italy, I thought the next time I would tell someone that I’m going to Venice, it would be a trip to Venice, Italy since we didn’t go there back in March.. Then certain events in life change your entire perspective.. The BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has done that.. Within days of realizing just how large the spill was and considering the impact on the Gulf Coast environment, I knew I had to come photograph what was happening. Rebecca and I were walking with another scientist from her department when I told her that I might want to be gone for 1-2 weeks to photograph the oil spill.. She said no problem.. To put this response in perspective, our wedding is coming up on July 3 and we still have some planning and details to work out.. What a great support, but that is one of the many reasons I am marrying her..
On to the Oil Spill. Today I was fortunate to get on one of the boats that the National Wildlife Federation put together to get a first hand look at the oil on the water. There were scientists from LSU and FSU, reporters and photographers and videographers from Reuters, AP, NBC, PBS.. I actually got to meet Tom Bearden of the MacNeil Lehrer Report for PBS.. Nice guy. There was even a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or submarine that a scientist from LSU brought to look for oil under the surface of the water. He went down about 250 feet and saw globules of oil floating consistently down the entire water column. We saw no fish, no dolphins, no birds.
All of this is very disturbing. The thoughts that the impact may be for 10-15 years, maybe even a lifetime. This oil spill may affect all of the Gulf States coastline and maybe the Atlantic States coastline up to Cape Hatteras. The amount of wildlife and wild areas that may be affected is staggering. This trip is my start of document, over time, the affects of the oil spill on wild life and wild areas. My wish is that the images will get no worse than the ones I’ve seen.. But I know that is only a pipedream..
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Bon Secour NWR and Gulf Oil Spill

I have been here since Saturday afternoon.. Talked to a bunch of people and walked several beaches and some trails. The only evidence you see here that there is something coming is the barriers the Alabama National Guard has put up on the Sound side of Fort Morgan area. These barriers are lined with a felt like material and will be filled with a polymer that binds to hydrocarbons and will not release them once bound.. Supposedly the polymer can then be used for paving or even burned with a higher BTU than lignite coal.. The polymer is not toxic to wildlife, even ingested while loaded with hydrocarbons.

The US Coast Guard has also been mobilized as 500 Reserve USCG have been deployed from all over the country to the Gulf coast to try to respond to any threat of oil coming on shore.. The group I talked to is from Hawaii.. A long way from home..

Tar balls, even though I haven't seen any yet, are normal to come on shore. They don't know where they come from.. Speculation is oil leaking from fields underwater, oil rigs leaking, tankers with oil leaking, etc.. I have been told that all the tar balls found have been tested and are not from the Deep Horizon event.. But we were also told that only 200000 gallons a day were leaking from the site and now appears that may be a gross underestimate.

All in all, people are mobilizing to try to deal with the eventual onslaught of oil.. Whether that will be beaches black with oil slicks or just a few tar balls, no one seems to know..

LA is getting hit very hard and that is the next stop on my trip by Tuesday afternoon..

I'm hoping to keep coming back to these areas to document photographic the effect of what some people say is the worst environmental disaster in American history.. Stay tuned..

Gulf Oil Spill

Waiting to hear from Jamie Clark.. May be going down to LA, MS, AL, FL coast to photograph the results of the Deep Horizon BP Gulf Oil spill. Have all my gear ready. I will try to blog and tweet about my adventures. I have usually tried to photograph the positive images of nature as I want something good that people can focus on... But this oil spill along the coast of where I grew up vacationing ( and was just there last May) really makes me consider that people need to see the bad that goes on in nature too. Especially when it is man's fault. To raise awareness of how we treat our environment and what our dependence on oil is doing to our environment seems to pull at me. I am a positive person by nature, but if I have to use negative images to create a positive response, I will.