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Gulf Coast Update–Day 1

Gulf Coast Update–Day 1

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It has been six weeks since I last visited the Gulf Coast. I have been documenting sensitive shore areas since May related to the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster. Today I visited two of the seven Gulf beaches I have been collecting images and video on over the summer. One beach was polluted and the other appeared much cleaner.

First, I visited Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. It was hit with a lot of oil and much of it sank just offshore. Monster dump trucks hauled tons of contaminated sand away and four track hoes dug into the tideline in an attempt to remove the oil that sank. Six weeks ago hundreds of blue crabs were gathered in the surf zone…behavior I’ve never seen before. Today, there were dead blue crabs in various states of decay washed up all over the beach.

There was a strong smell of crude oil on the beach and oily mousse was in the water. Sanderlings and other small birds were foraging for food in the oily mousse. There were not many birds on the shore there but some of the ones that were present exhibited strange behavior. Sanderlings allowed me to get very close to them (unusual) and many were laying down (unusual).

I cracked one of the dead crabs open and the inside was black. I’m making a guess here but I’m pretty sure it was oil. Last time I was at the Gulf I took underwater video of blue crabs. They were lethargic and not feisty like they usually are when approached. I saw none alive in the water today but many, many dead. The little shorebirds were eating the crabs, oil and all. I was saddened to think of how these toxins are spreading up the food chain. People ask me if I eat the seafood here…not any more. All you have to do is observe and do a little investigating to see that it’s just not a good idea to eat the wildlife coming out of the Gulf right now. It’s common sense.

My eyes were burning, my throat got raw, and I could taste the crude oil smell in the air blowing off of the Gulf. The waves were mixing in the oily mousse and I suppose some of the product was becoming air borne, although representatives from BP said that wasn’t possible. I could sure taste it today. As I stood there I thought how tired I was of smelling that nasty smell…then realized the birds and fish and other wildlife had been smelling or living in the toxic soup since May. I stopped my internal whining immediately.

My second stop was Gulf State Park Fishing Pier beach. A happy surprise was there was no crude oil smell, no oily mousse in the water and there were many birds along the shore. They even let me sit among them and take photographs and video. So they, too, allowed me to approach closer than usual. The air smelled only of salt and I breathed it in ravenously. I could taste only salt on my tongue at this beach. How wonderful.

This image is from the beach at the state park pier today. The next image is from the pier in July.

I was grateful that one area appears cleaner and healthier, although appearances can be deceiving. I saw no coquina shells in the surf zone or any kind of live shellfish along the shores today. This is an important food for many creatures so the outcome for wildlife is yet to be determined. Stay tuned for more.

Nature’s Bounty

Nature’s Bounty

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I visited my daughter and her significant other and his family in Michigan. I had no idea of the beauty and wildness of Michigan. Images of car factories and dirty cities formed my idea of it and that idea was completely wrong. I discovered terrain with stunning beauty that taught me a valuable lesson about the perils of opinion-forming that I won’t soon forget.

Nor will I forget the farmers and their bountiful harvests. Plants tended carefully produced colorful and delicious food. Minerals from the soil, rainwater that fell upon the plants….a little bit of Michigan is now a part of me.

Farmland, forests, beaches and bodies of water formed harmonious landscapes that repeatedly delighted my photographer’s eye and my adventurous soul. I was already thinking of taking my kayak and bicycle back to explore the area another time.

As I was walking along the beach with my daughter and Sue, Kevin’s mom, I felt the kinship that women have with the earth. As we uncovered fossils in the tideline, I felt the ancient connection to the elements. I thought of tribal women who walked the same shores maybe fishing or maybe just enjoying the connection to each other. My daughter–a part of me, yet a part of Sue and a part of Mother Earth.

As we strolled along the remote shore of Lake Michigan, the weaving of lives, of relationships was so powerful, so strong, I could see the lines of force between us and between the elements of wind, water, earth, air and spirit. The graceful beauty of the dance humans have with each other and with nature is a blessing which feeds our souls as surely as the fresh produce feeds our bodies.

Restoration

Restoration

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The cool dawn called to me this morning. In the gray light, before the sun peeked over the mountains, I gathered my gear and headed up the parkway. Pink-bottomed clouds greeted me as I arrived at the entrance and headed north.

By the time I got to a good sunrise overlook, the pink had disappeared. The blue sky and golden light greeted me with such splendor that I did not feel cheated by the rosy hue’s disappearance.

There is something immensely pleasing about driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway before engaging in my daily routine. My senses are awakened by nature, not email or Facebook, oil spill updates or even coffee. During these times of solitude with the mountains, clouds, wild turkeys and fresh air, I am restored.

Today was the first time I’ve photographed places in nature that weren’t coated in oil since I begin covering the disaster in May. To say that I needed the experience is like saying I needed to breathe this morning. As I watched the sun rise over the ridge line and felt the 58 degree wind whip around me at the top of Mt. Mitchell, a part of me came back, a part that had no choice but to disappear with the horror of what I’ve witnessed over the summer.

Gratitude sparked through me as I recognized the connection between nature from the highest peak east of the Mississippi River to the Gulf Coast. The pristine beauty I experienced this morning connected me back to my coastal birthplace and somewhere within, I knew that eventually, after arguments and payouts and lies and dark times, the Gulf would be restored. In the end, nature will be restored.

Weeping for the World

Weeping for the World

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Music to Read By

This morning I sat weeping for the birds, oysters, shrimp, crabs….for us all. As I breathed in the stillness of the dawn I felt sadness that we have collectively created such imbalance on this beautiful planet. Inhaling, exhaling…pausing to touch the grief within me….how did it get so messed up?

We have become so dependent on practices that destroy our world, there is no easy way to stop them. The oil industry is woven into the fabric of life in Louisiana along with the Gulf’s bounty. Maybe the problem began when we considered only what could be produced from the Gulf.

But it goes beyond the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis–way beyond to the collective intention to consume, to conquer without regard for what it does to the planet that, quite literally, gives us life. Where did this short-sighted way of thinking begin?

I weep for our ignorance and the destruction it keeps in motion. I weep for political polarization that puts power on a pedestal over compassion and caring. We are lost in fighting battles that pull us apart and weaken us.

When will we stop and breathe together in silence? When we will awaken from our slumber and join hands to work to save our planet, to save ourselves?

The Picture Gets Clearer

The Picture Gets Clearer

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This morning came in with force and grabbed me by my tee shirt and shook me awake. Two things happened that really made me engage with the day. First, BP’s oil that magically disappeared is washing up at Gulf State Park pier again and second, Senator Burr’s office called me and we had a down-home chat about energy.

Oil is washing ashore again in Alabama in the form of the slimy crude. Not just tar balls (BP and Thad Allen said just this week tar balls were only in Louisiana–which is false…I documented them last week in every area I visited in Alabama–Ft. Morgan, Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Gulf State Park and Romar Beach, and Florida–Gulf Islands National Seashore at Johnson Beach). Nope…the nasty, brown-water crude is coating beaches at Gulf State Park possibly due to the tropical storm in the Gulf churning things up. Perhaps nature is helping us by showing BP and our government that the oil really has NOT disappeared, evaporated, or magically been consumed by an oil-eating gulf spirit. And where is BP? Nowhere to be seen. Elvis has left the building folks!

A couple weeks ago I wrote Senator Richard Burr’s office stating my disappointment in the Senate not moving forward with an energy bill, even as watered-down as it was. Kyle, from Senator Burr’s office, called me this morning. He started reading his statement about how Senator Burr supports domestic production of energy. I interrupted Kyle and said, “Oh, you mean he supports oil and gas drilling.” Kyle replied that we have to wean ourselves off of foreign oil. I guess Senator Burr hasn’t studied the oil map of the world’s oil reserves. We don’t have the oil reserves/resources in the USA to come close to weaning (his word) us off our foreign oil need given our current consumption rate.

Our conversation progressed….Kyle continued by saying, “The cap and trade scheme…” WHOA Kyle…”Scheme?” I said. I didn’t realize it was a scheme. Then he got totally lost in his statement having not guessed that I’d answer the phone much less interrupt his well-practiced speech. After recovering he went on to say that the current “regime wanted to implement…” REGIME? Oh, so that’s the game…Senator Burr and his associates are indulging in word war in the media and with citizens by referring to our current Commander in Chief as leading a regime. I didn’t realize they were trying to promote the current administration as communist. Seriously?

I had about enough by then so I said, “Could we just stop with the political jargon and talk about the real issue? Our planet needs us to stop being polarized with politics. I am sick and tired of all politicians struggling for power and not even focusing on the issues at hand. Please tell Senator Burr that’s what I want him to hear from me.” Kyle referred me to Senate bill S. 3535 and said that’s Senator Burr’s answer to the regime’s scheme.

I researched S. 3535 and it has three major components. First, it gives a tremendous boost to natural gas production. Heard of hydraulic fracturing? The folks who have been victimized by Haliburton and others using this process might tell us a thing or two about what this very dangerous procedure does to the environment and to people. The second part of this bill pushes nuclear energy. Yes, it’s clean but who inherits the mess left behind by it? To me it’s just a short-term fix for energy that leaves our grandkids with a toxic environment. The third part of the bill addresses renewable energy to which it basically continues the tax credits already in place and calls for a DOR, EPA and DOT study (another government study???).

The energy picture is becoming clearer to me in two ways. First, the BP oil that magically disappeared never really went away….it sank. Thank goodness for citizens and scientists who know better than to believe BP and the government and to tropical storms and other forms of nature that divulge the truth. Second, we must stop deferring the messes we create to our grandchildren. NOW is the time to take responsibility for the way we use energy, how we can create a better way and leave a better world for our heirs. Do we want to be remembered as the generation that had an opportunity to make a difference and chose not to because it was too difficult?