Oil Soaked Pelicans

I just returned from Fort Jackson facility just above Venice, LA where all the bird rehab is taking place. Was able to go in and photograph and watch birds being rescued from a potential oily demise. It takes about 5-7 days for the entire process. They are examined by a vetenarian once they arrive. Then they are allowed to "chill" for a day or so before going through the decontamination process. This is a stressful process, so the workers want the birds to be less excited and less anxious before they get bathed. The oil itself doesn't cause extreme damage to the birds vital organs, but it does cause skin and eye irritation, so leaving the oil on them for a day or so to relax doesn't harm them. Then they go through 3 stages of clean up. First a solution is applied to breakup the oil. Then Dawn solution bath helps get rid of the oil and the first solution. Then finally a rinse bath helps get rid of the Dawn. The squeeky (well, if you listen close enough I think they squeek) clean birds then go to a drying room until all feathers are dry. They proceed back outside to a holding cage (large area with several "ponds" to sit in and play in) and there they await release. They are all tagged and then transported to FL (Merrit Island NWR) and released. Not sure if any will return. The mortality once the birds reach the rehab facility is reported as very low.
It was amazing to see all the people here working so hard and caring so much for these birds,
it is just a shame that they have been put in this position by BP Oil.
Tomorrow it is out to Barataria Bay..

Article in Paper

Dropping youngest son off at driving school (yes, almost there raising kids!), and friend was telling Joe that she saw my picture on the front page of the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper.. In fact, several pictures.
I knew this was coming because I spoke to a friend of mine while working out last week. He is a reporter for the News Sentinel and also asks where I have been lately and what I have been doing. When I explained to him my trip to the Gulf, he asked to pursue a story.. Seems that the other people at the paper where interested enough to want to run the story.. Didn't know when it was going to run, but was nice to see some local color and spin on the Gulf Oil Spill.
Right now I am trying to get things worked out to go back down next week and shoot more..
May pick different spots this time and then go back the first week of August to follow up on all the spots I've shot so far.
Depends on how far and how much the oil is impacting over the next 2 months.
All this travel is being down while also trying to get ready for wedding on July 3rd.. Rebecca has been extremely supportive and encouraging during this environmental crisis during the preparation for our marriage.. See her image of me in the article below.

Go to Knoxville News Sentinel to see the article in Monday June7th paper...

Oil Spill continues

I came back home last Friday (May 28) from Venice, LA.. It feels strange not to be down where all the action is. I became accustomed to seeing the news commentators live, not on the screen. Since I have been back, I have been through my images and am trying to organize some support to do further documentation of the oil spill. Doug Inkley, Chief Biologist for the National Wildlife Federation, said in an interview, that it would be nice to watch some of the affected areas over time to see what happens. That is what I'm prepared to do as my last trip documented images with GPS coordinates so I can go back to those areas and record, photographically, what is happening to our environment from the oil contamination. I am very disheartened by the seeming lack of effort to start cleaning up or protecting better the area around Venice, LA where I shot. It would be nice if there was some communication from someone (EPA, USFWS, BP, etc) about definite plans and organization to clean up the spill.. Maybe they're waiting until it's over..

It puts my mind almost in a state of shock to imagine the enormity of the impact of this oil spill. BP is going to owe a lot of people a lot of money for this tragedy. But all the money what make up for the heartbreak we all feel for the rape of Mother Nature.. Make your thoughts know to your Congressional Representative.. Donate money to Defenders of Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation to help with the clean.. Consider volunteering time, when they finally get around to cleaning up this mess and allow volunteers to help.

The image for today is a panorama of an area that shows how ineffective the protective boom is that they are spending so much time and money putting out..

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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