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Pelicans, Turnstones, Monarchs and Masses of Fish

Pelicans, Turnstones, Monarchs and Masses of Fish

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There was quite a gathering of wildlife this morning at Ft. Morgan Beach. Just offshore from the point of land where Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico meet, more than 300 pelicans gathered as large schools of fish swam in the shallows. Snowy egrets, gulls, terns, turnstones, sanderlings, and humans fishing, made for quite a beautiful experience at the beach.

So many pelicans were dive-bombing fish schools that it appeared to be a tangle of wings, feathers and pouches as they feasted. Monarch butterflies were launching from the beach probably hoping to ride the north wind to Mexico. I don’t know how they dodged the mass of brown feathers and webbed feet whirling through the sky but they did. I watched as they fluttered furiously, miraculously missing what I thought was certain dunking from ravenous birds.

About 85% of the mass of pelicans was first-year birds. Very few adults were present. It was Fishing 101 for young pelicans.

Other shorebirds in attendance didn’t get in the way of the pouched-wonders. Sandwich and royal terns, laughing gulls, great blue herons, snowy egrets and ruddy turnstones all enjoyed the buffet but stayed carefully out of the way of the mass of large birds.

One of the humans present threw out a cast net and completely filled it with fish. So many that he couldn’t bring the net to the beach. I’m not sure what was the cause but something was creating this mass of fish in shallow waters. But birds and humans weren’t the only ones enjoying it. Several bottlenose dolphin arrived to claim their fare share.

I sat quietly on the beach, photographing in amazement. I finally stopped and just watched, witnessed the unique experience. It was great seeing so many pelicans and fish and I truly hope that chemical exposure from the oil spill won’t kill future generations as it moves through the DNA. We don’t know what the future holds really. But for today, I enjoyed the absolute beauty of this beach and its lively residents.

What Spill?

What Spill?

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“That’s just not the kind of thing we want to carry,” said the manager at the gift shop at a local chain of restaurants in the Gulf Shores, Alabama area. She was referring to my illustrated kid’s book, The Gulf Oil Spill Story. Kids love it, school librarians and teachers do as well. So what’s with this manager? I read between the lines—we don’t carry oil-spill related anything—but thought perhaps I was exaggerating.

Gulf Shores hosts the National Shrimp Festival each year. This year a group of environmentally aware and concerned citizens want to march in the parade to show support of the Gulf and to let people know that the oil spill is still a serious concern here. The City of Gulf Shores is DENYING THEM A PERMIT. How can they do that? These are not violent people. They simply want others to know and remember what continues to happen to the environment here and stop pretending like the largest oil spill in US History didn’t happen here.

The Grand Festival of Arts and Books was in Fairhope, Alabama. The book portion was sponsored by Page and Palette, a local bookstore who is heavily involved in the community. They invited me to participate in their celebration of locally-authored children’s books. Page and Palette and the staff there are educating, informing and encouraging people to be aware of what’s happening in their community by inviting authors that share environmental messages with kids.

I understand that merchants do not want tourists to have images like this in mind when planning vacations. I know they want to increase revenue and make more money every year. That’s how our economy functions in the take-as-much-as-you-can-get-at-any-cost economy. Is it too much to expect from business owners to also have a conscience? To care about telling the truth? To actually use an event like the spill to educate their customers?

I have a friend in Gulf Shores. Eydie and her husband own <em>Printing Zone and have my books for sale in their shop. She has been dedicated to helping get my work into the community and school there. She’s standing up for the beautiful environment because of her love of nature and her concern. My childhood friend, Leslie Flowers, has my books for sale in her hair salon in Magnolia Springs. She cares, too.

It’s people like Eydie and Leslie and businesses like Printing Zone and Page and Palette that make a difference in the world. Teachers that care, librarians that care…you all are my heros! Writers like me and other independent writers depend on compassionate, caring, environmentally responsible and aware businesses, schools and individuals to help get the Work out into the world.

I’m weary of mayors, tourism boards and businesses here on the Gulf Coast who fear the truth, who think that if tourists know the truth they’ll stop coming here and who are working diligently to deny that the oil spill ever happened. These are the same officials who last year refused to close beaches, where children were routinely playing in crude oil, because as the Orange Beach mayor stated, “There’s no law against stupid.”

I envision there being room for profit and truth. What about you?

To order my children’s book on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that happened on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida please visit my web site OR buy it locally at Printing Zone, Page and Palette or Magnolia Hair Center.

Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface

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Dark edges of boards ripped from piers during a recent tropical storm rested vertically on the surface, the other end buried in the mud. As I paddled my SUP board yesterday afternoon and again this morning, I noticed how they look like dorsal triangles of shark or dolphin fins frozen in time.

After an hour of hard paddling this morning, I spotting a fin ahead but it disappeared. Hmmm. There weren’t waves washing over the fin-boards. Oh, I thought, It’s a dolphin! Sure enough, the fin headed straight toward my board. The big, gray animal circled me a couple of times and then continued with his feeding. What a nice encounter on this glorious autumn morning on Mobile Bay.

As I continued to paddle, I thought of all the things that were just under the surface of the muddy water that could only be seen by really looking, really paying attention. And I thought, Life is like that.

We might think of bad or difficult or even scary things that lie hidden, just beneath our conscious recognition, but I believe there are many gifts that are just beneath the surface and are waiting to be discovered–strengths we may not realize we have, talents wanting to be used to make a difference in the world.

As I paddled towards mom’s beach, two more fins came straight toward me. They circled me a few times before heading off to finish their breakfast hunt. I was left pondering the question: What lies just beneath the surface of my life that can be put into use to help the planet, to help others?

What about you. What talents, skills or ideas are waiting for you to discover and use for the common good?

I invite you to visit my web site, Turtle Island Adventures, to perhaps inspire or encourage your creative efforts. We are all part of the solution!

Life Amazing

Life Amazing

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Have you ever noticed that sometimes the most amazing experiences unfold when you simply show up and follow your heart? Last week at the Gulf Coast was one mind-bending, life-changing moment after another. Opportunities showered upon me and I’m left with a slightly silly grin on my face and a heart full of gratitude.

For those of you following my work at the Gulf Coast, you know that I have a deep and abiding love of the Ocean. The Gulf is part of our global ocean and the oil spill was the event that called me to action last year. It pulled me from my caring-from-a-distance mode to being on the front lines, for over a year now, of one of the worst environmental disasters of our lifetime. Because of my saltwater love and my abiding belief that all life is sacred, I have written two books about nature. One, Place of Spirit, with a chapter on the oil spill and the other, The Gulf Oil Spill Story, an illustrated children’s book about the spill. Throughout the past year, the coastal call has been growing and I have wondered where it would take me and if it would take me away from my mountain home.

Like the osprey, I needed to get a higher perspective, so before I went to the Gulf Coast I set the intention to keep my mind and heart open, wondering if I was being called to return home to continue my work. Over 15 years ago I stood at the shoreline at the Gulf and stated my desire to help Her. I heard a clear, “Not yet but you will know when to return.” When the Gulf Oil Spill occurred in April 2010, I knew that was my call to return to help the Gulf waters and wildlife and people. I thought it was just to visit often. And yet, the saltwater kept calling as I returned to the mountain.

It’s not easy to ignore the call of service, even when my cathedral of trees shelters me and enfolds me in its embrace. If I could dream up a perfect home that completely suits my personality and desire for beauty, it would be this cedar wonder of glass and space. But I’ve dedicated my life to helping the Earth and Her creatures (including humans). I know from experience that to heed the inner calling is to be content and in the flow. And when the call comes–to move, to work, to help–the only thing that makes sense is to listen and leap. (My friend Brandon is leaping, too).

Since childhood I had a strong pull to the mountains. And when I finally moved here five years ago, I met people who were instrumental in helping me move forward with my life’s work. This was a place that called to my soul. I needed this five years to hone my skills, design and produce three books of my own and another I co-authored with Thomas Rain Crowe, another soul called to help the Earth Mother. The mountain has nurtured my creative spirit and led me to a deeper connection with nature. It’s not easy to think about saying goodbye to this home of beauty and love that has enfolded me so I could unfold and grow and expand into my potential.

Before I journeyed back to the Gulf Coast I simply held my heart and mind open and asked my Trusted Source to show me what I needed to see (the same prayer I say every time I walk out on a beach to document the oil spill and recovery). I went down with one event scheduled at the Gulf Shores Public Library and a week of more documentation scheduled. Here’s what happened.

I was invited to visit Gulf Shores Elementary School Library and read my new children’s book there. I met with kindergarten and third graders, read and listened to their stories. An opportunity to present to about 170 high school kids opened up and so I visited the marine biology and science classes at Foley High School. My visit made the local newspaper. Page and Palette, a great bookstore in Fairhope, invited me to participate in Book Fest–a large event in October–and I did the public library event as scheduled and managed to visit the beaches to document the recovery process. People I met throughout the week kept giving me leads about doing presentations and places where my kid’s books would sell. It felt like doors flying open with amazing ease.

But wait…there’s more. Nature held powerful messages on this trip. First, I saw two bald eagles flying together at Wolf Bay. After hearing their calls, which caused me to look up, I saw two of these amazing birds. The next day, while paddling over the grass beds at Johnson Beach, I heard an owl and looked up to see a great horned owl flying (it was 11am and very sunny) to a pine tree. She landed and I paddled to the edge of the marsh and we watched each other until I lost the staring contest and humbly paddled away. These two species are powerful teachers in the First Nation’s teachings. The bald eagle symbolizes illumination of spirit. It is considered to be a messenger from Great Spirit. They are a symbol of the sun. The great horned owl is a symbol of the moon and higher wisdom.

Stingrays lept beside my board, shrimp jumped in front of it, mullet splashed all around as I paddled. Bass chased small fish in the river, a water snake even showed up. Oh, and let me not forget the six dolphins who escorted me on the Gulf. Pelicans watched me each morning as I paddled past their piling perches. I felt completely surrounded by wildlife which made me incredibly joy-filled.

As I paddled out onto the calm Gulf waters one morning, there was hardly a ripple on the surface of the huge body of water. As I moved offshore a bit, I noticed a very slight, slow roll. The motion was so soft it reminded me of a very strong heartbeat. It felt like I was riding the pulse of Mother Ocean. After all of these profound experiences, I understood with certainty that my new home would be where I was born and breathed salt-air breaths the first days of my life. The place that needed me now was the Gulf of Mexico and my work could benefit not only this precious body of water and wildlife within and around Her, but children and families who live there as well.

“And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot

Have you ever surrendered something you loved to walk the path of service? I don’t feel it is a sacrifice to leave my mountain home. Truly we can never “own” anything. We are given resources and talents with which to serve. I know this move to the Gulf Coast is right and still I grieve the beauty I leave behind even as I celebrate the beauty I walk toward.

What is your call to service? I’d like to know your story. Let us walk bravely together.

Salt Report–Gulf Coast August 2011

Salt Report–Gulf Coast August 2011

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As I was driving back from paddling the Gulf of Mexico and the Sound at Johnson Beach this morning, I noticed I felt out of place off the water. This visit to the Gulf Coast has included many hours on the water. The 100 feet of land between me and Bon Secour Bay seems far too big as I sit and compose this report.

First, to those of you inquiring about specific areas and concerns. Fort Morgan beaches have small tar balls washing in with the surf. The sand on the Gulf side has built-up considerably this summer so I am not sure if the small tar balls covering the beach in April were picked up by clean-up workers or covered by the natural migration of the sand. The point at Ft. Morgan, where Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico come together, has eroded significantly. The old fuel tank that was far up on the big dune (deposited most likely by a hurricane or other wave-producing storm) is now almost to the water line. It appears ready to launch its rusty-self back into the saltwater.

I wish I had better news to report from Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. The beaches there are littered with hundreds of dead blue crabs. They are in various stages of decay from newly dead to bleached white from sun exposure. There were small tar balls rolling in the surf and tractors doing a surface cleaning of the sand on the mid-beach. The sand is stained there from oil, far up on the beach. The huge oily shelf was not visible. It could have been removed or covered by sand. Summer season is the time sand builds up on the beaches. We’ll know more when winter arrives and the sand shifts or a hurricane or tropical storm attacks the beach with large waves.

From the beginning of the oil spill, when they sprayed dispersant to sink the oil, we knew that bottom dwellers were going to suffer the most. Crabs, sting rays and other marine life that made a home on the bottom, would tell the real story. Seeing one or two crabs is not unusual. Seeing hundreds of dead crabs washing in where the beaches were so heavily oiled and where a large mat of oil sank just offshore, causes grave concern for this microcosm in the Gulf. I saw more than one dead sting ray on this visit.

And even though carcasses of crabs were everywhere at the beach, Great Blue Herons were enjoying the opportunity to find easy food sources. Unfortunately, if the crabs died of toxins associated with the spill, the herons will eventually be negatively affected as well. And that’s part of the frustration when I read in the local newspaper that ‘sea life is thriving.’ Nobody fished, shrimped or oystered last summer due to the spill. There was far fewer taken than usual. The harvests are big this year. But it takes at least three years for a species to tell their story of exposure and recovery to toxins such as crude oil.

Before the Exxon Valdese oil spill in Alaska, Pacific Herring populations were increasing in record numbers. In the year of the spill, egg mortalities and larval deformities were documented but the population effects of the spill were not established. Four years after the spill a dramatic collapse in the Pacific Herring population occurred and it has never rebounded.

How can ANYBODY hazard a guess as to how marine life in the Gulf will respond to oil and dispersants? To say that ‘all is well’ is absolutely irresponsible. We really don’t know what the long-term effects will be and we won’t know for at least three more years.

All areas I visited did not show such troubling signs. Ft. Pickens and Johnson Beach, both part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida, look really good. Although there are still small tar balls washing up, there was not dead marine creatures washed up like at BSNWR.

My early-morning SUP trips on Bon Secour Bay and Weeks Bay showed seemingly abundant marine life: shrimp jumped in front of my board, mullet leapt toward waiting mouths of brown pelicans, sea gulls and terns flew behind shrimp boats, waiting to eat their fill of discarded fish that would be thrown back into the water. It was encouraging and wonderful to experience.

My visit to the grass beds at Johnson Beach was also encouraging. I saw large schools of small fish, blue crabs, sting rays and large fish hunting in these nursery beds of the Gulf. And even the paddle in the Gulf was encouraging. I saw six bottlenose dolphin, large schools of sting rays and other small fish. I did, however, also see what appeared to be patches of sunken oil just offshore (probably the source of the tar balls). So yes, it does look better and unfortunately, we have to look deeper than appearances to begin to understand the impact of such an event.

For me or anyone to form a conclusion that everything is okay would be naive. I understand BP wants the world to know that there are fish and shrimp and dolphins still here. The Gulf Shores area had the best tourist season EVER this summer (according to many sources down here) and I understand that merchants don’t want a ‘gloom and doom’ prognosis about the Gulf waters or marine life. I get all that. But to ‘wish away’ the snapper covered in curious lesions and ‘cancers,’ ignore the hundreds of dead crabs washing up, or forget that dolphins found dead this spring have now been linked to the crude oil from MC252…..

Here’s a fact I’ll bet you haven’t read in the papers or seen on the news: Dauphin Island Sea Lab tests have shown a higher level of dispersant chemical than oil chemical in recent tests of salt marsh near Dauphin Island (reported to me by a worker there). Go back and read that sentence again. I really want you to take that in. And now….the questions begin.

Who do you think needs to answer questions about the high levels of dispersant? What about the new oil surfacing on MC252 now? Who can we trust to find out the real truth? These are questions we need to answer….and soon. I’d like to hear from you.

© Simone Lipscomb 2024