Dare to Look Closer–Update on the Gulf of Mexico

Today was my first day back at the Gulf Coast since mid-September. After torrential rains last night, the day cleared off nicely and left a very beautiful afternoon. As I walked the beach at Gulf State Park Pier, I noticed many gulls and terns resting on the beach, rough water, hefty wind and a haze that happens when wind picks up salt spray.

Great news was coquina shells in the surf zone…ones that were alive and working to feed by burying into the sand. Last time I visited I saw no evidence of live coquinas at any beach. I was thrilled! Sanderlings were running up to the quickly-burrowing bi-valves trying to catch a meal before it disappeared. I was feeling very hopeful and excited for the ecosystem.

The blowing haze was not really bothersome. The beach is often hazy when the water is rough. I noticed slight bubbly, oily mousse on the water but not as much as I had seen before so I didn’t think much of it. Had I lapsed into the kind of person I blog about? That apathetic humanoid?

I decided to wander over to the sea oats and bury a crystal a friend had sent me to place on the beach as a gift to the Gulf, a token thank you and ‘get well soon’ gift. When I approached the sea oats I noticed they were glistening. Hmm. I took my fingers and pinched a blade of the grass and ran it the distance of it. Surprise, surprise!! I looked and there was a light coating of oil on my fingers.

It wasn’t dirt or mold. It was slick like…ummmm…like oil. It smelled slightly of oil. I remembered, while kneeling in the sand, hearing Rear Admiral Mary (GAG) Landry state back in June or July that they knew for certain that the oil could not become air born. Pardon me Mary, but it is air borne. Oh, but didn’t the government and BP say the oil is mostly gone? Gone meaning dispersed to the point where the wind can actually push it further inland, making it an airborne toxin? Oh, yes. It’s gone. Sure…GONE INTO THE AIR! If you, my reader friends, were under the impression that BP and the government told the truth well, don’t hold your breath…or maybe…DO hold your breath.

In addition to the oily mousse on the beach and in the air, I saw an old friend on the beach. I took images and video of this gull a month ago. His foot webbing is eaten away and his leg is broken and sticks out at an odd angle yet he is still alive, still flying and has learned to scratch his head with the floppy foot and leg. I noticed webbing in shorebird’s feet with holes in it when I was here in July, when the oil was at its thickest on the Alabama coast.

I wanted so badly to begin my week here with positive news that would make everyone sit back and have a big, contented sigh. Or maybe…just maybe…I was wanting to find everything magically restored like I keep reading on the press releases BP and the Coast Guard keep sending me. “Another 5000 square miles of the Gulf are open…eat more seafood.” And yes…there are improvements. Each time I return there are improvements. Yet what is happening to wildlife exposed to constant oil-ladden winds? What is happening to the clean-up workers who are in it 12 hours a day? What about people like me who wander the beaches?

I suppose my main question is why has mainstream media disappeared and left wildlife, the water, the plants, the air, and for God sake, the PEOPLE, as if everything is fine and all is well? I am so weary of hearing that it’s all good here on the coast. I want as much as anyone to be able to give all wonderful, happy news about the oil spill recovery. I want this precious, sacred land and water to be clean and pristine. I long for it, I weep for it.

Alas, it is a mixed report of positive news with serious concerns about the air quality and the eventual fallout for all wildlife, plant life and humans that live or visit here. In a year how many birds will be left on this coastline? Can they reproduce due to constant contact with contaminates and if so, what will be the genetic consequences their offspring will live with? What about fish and shellfish and marine mammals constantly exposed to this “low level” soup of crude oil?

I came back to my mother’s and showered immediately, not even taking the time to capture the beautiful Mobile Bay sunset beckoning from her front yard. I was far more concerned about removing the coating of toxins I was wearing.