Greetings fellow nature lovers. We really are up shit's oily creek. This is Reddhead here and we just got back from another trip to the Gulf Coast...and it's bad, but of course, you already know that. I'm pissed but I know that we can't depend on Rachel to do all the yelling for us. So, here I'm gonna do some yelling myself.
I have seen the clips on Rachel's show and in the papers, but it literally brought me to tears standing on Gulf Shores Beach and watching wave after wave roll up with so many pieces of oil sludge that you know are going to wash up on this beach before the present ones can even be scooped up. Knowing that there are fish and turtles and dolphins and whales and coral and crustaceans who must live in and try to survive this shit. That what once was known as being one of the most beautiful beaches in the world is now covered in oil and the water comes with a warning; not sharks, not jellyfish, but chemicals, and we all bear some responsibility.
With all the horror of seeing first-hand what is undoubtedly just the tip of the iceberg there was one surprising and exciting moment which I'll get back to later. We have pics and video for you today, plus we'd like to introduce our new blog Bluejean Journalists. We don't need to be spoon-fed or force-fed the agendas, deceptions and outright lies that a corporate industry continually refers to as news. So we've decided to step into the void. We know we have a lot to learn and will certainly make mistakes, but we will try to provide a forum for news without an angle, except one, to inform, and we hope you'll join us.
First a little meta from Reddbierd. Daily Kos has been an important place for a lot of us on the left for a long time now. A place to meet, to plan and sometimes just to chat and entertain each other. It has been brilliant at times and mediocre at times. We have had successes and we have had near successes. We have had ups and downs. And as very many recent diaries attest, Daily Kos is in a slump right now. This region, this country, this planet cannot afford for us to wallow in this slump.
You may choose to think I'm exaggerating, after all, Daily Kos is just a blog. But, as I see it, this site represents a collection of people on the left with the wherewithal (education, money, computer skills and general experience in the political field) to accomplish the things that need to be accomplished now. Too much energy is being dissipated. Energy needs to be focused within the system if work is going to be produced. If this sounds hyperbolic I just want to ask you this; if we are not the ones who are going to alter the downward trajectory that our world seems to be on, then who is? And if you don't think that we are on a downward trajectory, I invite you to visit my neighborhood. End of Reddbierd's rant.
And now the news...
We only had 2 days this time so we stayed close to home. Our first stop was the Fort Pickens area of the peninsula just west of Pensacola Beach. There are public beaches as well as bird sanctuary and nesting grounds. As we were walking towards the water on one of the beach access points, some workers were heading back to the parking area. I tried to ask them a few questions, it went like this:
Me: "Hi, have you found anything here today?"
A worker: "We can't talk to anyone. we will get fired."
Me: "Do you work for BP?"
A worker "Sorry, we can't answer that."
Me: Incredulous...
The beach was clear and the water looked inviting. It was a very hot day already so we took a swim then went up the road to Pensacola Beach. It was fairly busy, almost like the previous weekend with the exception of workers tents (empty) on the beach. The lifeguard told me there hadn't been much for the workers here, but it was worse to the west. So, that's where we headed.
As Rachel mentioned in Perdido Pass they have taken it upon themselves to build a sturdier pipe boom to protect Mobile Bay.
We went to the berm we've been keeping tabs on. There was a crew working there sucking up the oil from the water in front of the berm with what looked like a big vacuum cleaner into a truck. The berm was intact and no oil had breached it as far as we could see. The beach had some tar balls on it.
Directly east, less than a quarter mile up the road, was our first sight of massive amounts of oil, and an ineffective boom which was heading straight out into the water from shore, one side buried in sand the other buoyed in the water. A dead fish turned somersaults in the water with the waves. The air smelled of gas fumes, so strong it gave my husband a headache. The beach so covered in oil our sandals were ruined. Bags of tar balls filled the dumpsters.
It was time to stop for the night so we backtracked a little to Big Lagoon State Park, an area, so far, unaffected. We were able to swim a little and take some pics of it's beauty.
We decided to go to a local restaurant for dinner. We had been told (and both a poster in the park and the Park Ranger confirmed the idea) that it's helpful to the local economy. Plus we love seafood and we were hungry. We weren't sure if our young waitress would have any thoughts about what was happening in the Gulf, but when we asked, she became effusive.
"See those lights out there?," she asked, pointing to a group of 3 lights out on the water. "That's my husband, he's in the Coast Guard and spends 9 days out on the water because of the spill before getting a 3 day break. They have been cleaning up some of the mess. He sent me this."
She held her phone out, showing us a picture. It showed a mass of bright red oil contained within a boomed area. A skimmer had cleaned part of it, leaving a black looking section on one side. The pic is below. It's blurry because it's a pic of the pic. She said she would try to send a better pic and if she does we will post it.
The next morning we awoke to an already hot day and looked forward to a swim before heading off to our destination, Dauphin Island, Alabama. But when we arrived at Orange Beach we were greeted with this sign.
The smell of oil was in the air and tar balls were scattered on the beach. I talked to a guy in a dune buggy who said that it wasn't as bad as it had been the day before, when he had seen oil-covered birds, including a baby pelican. He had called the rescuers. He also said that the oil was now on the beach around Fort Pickens and that the President was supposedly coming to Orange Beach today. The presence of a lot of boom and a fair number of boats seemed to confirm the idea that the President would be arriving presently.
We headed off to grab the ferry to Dauphin Island. On the way we saw a sign stating that the road would be closed between 4pm and 6pm that day. We ended up just getting the last ferry to the island. A young girl working on the ferry confirmed that it was the last public run of the day and that the President would be using it later, though she herself was considered too inexperienced to be allowed to be one of the hands.
It took about 45 minutes to cross Mobile Bay, a body of water littered with structures that we were told were natural gas rigs.
As soon as we landed on the island we saw a 'Welcome Mr. President' sign, secret service, police and military.
Our visit to Dauphin Island would soon become quite memorable. But first we headed out to the beach. There were advisory signs and tar balls along with birds. The beaches were almost empty including the workers' tents.
We drove back to the ferry and parked, joining the small crowd of people gathered. I know it might not be a big deal to some, but I actually f****ing saw my President, Mr. Obama! No, we couldn't get that close and no he didn't speak to the crowd. The secret service guys were very respectful during the whole thing, not once was there a rude order given (even when they were kicking us off the curb). Same goes for the local police and military that we came in contact with. We have a short, somewhat choppy handheld video. The quality is poor but the irony is rich (check out the end).
Transcript of girl in last frame of vid:
"Should we go to the beach?"
"Signs of the times" on the Gulf Coast.
Remember to rec the Mothership Please...