Gulf Coast Oil Disaster: Photos and Videos (Ongoing)

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-469644

Staring Down the Dragon on Dependence Day - Video

July 7, 2010 |

Posted by: wjnichols

* Last updated: July 7, 2010

CNN producer note

wjnichols is a marine biologist and an advocate for ocean life, particularly sea turtles. He flew into the Gulf on July 4 to help with turtle rescue efforts and captured this footage from a small Cessna. You can find out more about wjnichols and his efforts on his personal website.- rachel8, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

On the night of the Fourth of July, I flew into New Orleans. I watched from above as fireworks sailed from below into the sky to celebrate Independence Day.

The young man from a small Louisiana coastal town sitting next to me said "I've never seen fireworks from above."

"Me neither."

"I've never been on a plane before this either," he added.

A few hours later I was back in the sky, this time flying above a different kind of fireworks. The kind that mourn our dependence.

Our small Cessna traced the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, documenting the flow of oil and tar balls onto islands, wetlands, mangroves, beaches and the inadequacy of the bright yellow and orange booms floating here and there and more often than not, beachcast and twisted by the wind and waves.

One member of our team a government geologist studying the weathering of oil on seawater. One member of our team a environmental toxicologist. Our pilot, a NASA scientist herself. And myself, a marine biologist in search of sea turtles.

Bonny skillfully skirted the edges of thunderclouds and positioned our plane wherever we wanted it.

Down the oily coast we flew. Timbalier and Cat Islands, Grand Isle, the Mississippi River Delta, Chandeleur Islands. None of these places, and so many others, will be themselves for a long time.

Then we turned offshore, for deep water. Beneath us muddy water, oily water, oily muddy water. Then the edge, a giant convergence, between deep blue and shallower oily water for as far as we could see. There we found a school of forty cownose mantas, searching for food, traveling together. Without a doubt they have all eaten oil.

We flew further offshore. Closer to "ground zero," the site of the oil gusher and location of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon.

I've spent my adult life working for the ocean, the endangered animals living in it, and the people who depend on it. I've seen the wholesale destruction of species by commercial fishing, illegal hunting and the destruction caused by plastic pollution. But none of that prepared me for this.

Our plane surveyed a path of the thousands of square miles of destroyed ocean habitat. Then we descended a bit and flew over "ground zero", the site of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon. A new platform has taken its place. A large flame of burning methane jetting from the side. Ships worked the waters all around. Bands of oil extended off into the distance, set off by the deep blue of the Gulf.

We were close. So close I could smell it. The cockpit filled with fumes. I breathed in the foul breath of the fire dragon. We buzzed the beast, like a pesky fly. Our small craft banked, circled back around for a closer look. This time I held my breath.

I thought of the tragic loss of human lives that occurred just below me ten weeks prior. I thought of the massive loss of animal life that's already happened and will unfold throughout this ocean for years to come. I thought of the distraught fisherman who took his own life. I thought of the people below, working to stop the flow of oil, working to burn the oil on the surface. I thought about my daughters. I thought ten million other things at the same time. I felt like I was going to cry. Somehow I didn't, but I raged inside silently.

Eventually, I could hold my breath no longer and I sucked in the breath of the fire dragon again.

I will think of the Deepwater Horizon every time I smell that smell. Every time I pump gas into my tank, or ride my bike behind a truck on a busy street. At airports and bus stops. At BP, Exxon, or Chevron stations. It will keep me going in this ocean revolution, our collective effort to slay the dragon.

Music: Alfonso Burgos, Seri elder, a tribe in Mexico with a deep connection to sea turtles

Five Photos of Biloxi, Mississippi - 8 July 2010...

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-470368

Biloxi, MS Beaches Affected by Oil
22 hours ago | Biloxi, Massachusetts |

Posted by:
theDGB

CNN producer note

theDGB went down to the Gulf to volunteer with the United Way of south Mississippi. 'We find this work very rewarding, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a month,' theDGB said. 'The hardest thing about being down here is being helpless. There is nothing we can actually do but be bystanders.' theDGB.
- ccostello3, CNN iReport producer
iReport —

Oil found on beaches near Biloxi, MS on July 8th, 2010.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-470366

Six Photos

Oil Touches Marshes in Waveland, MS
July 8, 2010 | Waveland, Mississippi |
Posted by:
theDGB

CNN producer note

theDGB went to Waveland Beach to gather footage of the oil disaster for the Audubon Society. 'If I had to describe the day in one word it would have to be 'heartbreaking',' theDGB said.
- ccostello3, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

Oil can be found on the road and marshes near the coast in Waveland, MS on July 8th, 2010.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-470182

Tar Balls and Tar Patties on Pensacola Beach
July 8, 2010 | Pensacola Beach, Florida | 4 Photos

Posted by:
LostSole

CNN producer note

LostSole didn't write 'Save Me' in the sand, but he did take the picture. The shot of the pink flip-flop became part of his ongoing project documenting lost shoes around the country, and says he hopes his newborn daughter will be able to experience a clean beach in Pensacola someday.

- nsaidi, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

On June 30th, 2010 I went out to Pensacola Beach to do a quick photoshoot for work. On the way home I decided to check out our beaches and see if there were more oil on them as result of the huge waves churned up by Hurricane Alex. While I did not see the “tar mats” like I saw last time I was there when I snapped the image of Lost Sole #359, there were copious amounts of “tar balls" that dotted the edge of the incoming surf. So all in all the beach looked fairly clean...on the surface at least.

I am sure many of you have been hearing this term for some time now, and probably wondered what a tar ball is exactly. It can be most easily described as looking like a pile of dog poop and has the same consistency (sadly I know this because I have picked up a ton of it because of my dogs Jack and Jinjer). While walking the water’s edge where most of the tar accumulates I spotted Lost Sole #360.

I knelt down to get a good angle in what appeared to be clean sand. But what I quickly found out was that just below the surface, perhaps a quarter of an inch, was a layer of sticky, thick tar! The incoming surf had just covered the big tar patties with sand.

In the process I also used my elbow to prop the camera and it too had nasty brown tar on it when I lifted it up. I was disgusted, I could not believe this was a toxic hazard that I had to encounter on our once pristine beaches.

I now know what they are talking about when people described on TV what they went through trying to remove it. It was near impossible to get off, I had to rub and rub. It did burn, not from the substance itself, but rather from taking off 5 layers of skin trying to remove the gunk. I also got it all over my flip flops and tracked it into the van, which I did not realize until I got home AARRRGGGH!!! I got it on my shorts as well which required turpentine to remove.

A neighbor who is unable to get out to the beach had asked me a few days before this that the next time I went out to the beach that I would grab him a tar paddy and bring it to him to see. I uploaded the image of what they tar patty looked like after sitting in my hot car for a few minutes. The fumes that were given off when I took the lid of the container made me sick instantly and I recognized the smell as the same scent that we have been smelling when the wind blows from the south. I am no scientist but those fumes cannot be good for us at all.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-469984

Ten Photos from Orange Beach, Alabama

My visit to Orange Beach, AL
July 8, 2010 | Orange Beach, Alabama | Vetting explained

Click to view jennherrin's profile
Posted by:
jennherrin

CNN producer note

jennherrin has four children, ages 10, 9, 5 and 4. She says it's hard to explain that why they can't go to the beach when they live so close. She said there are other things to do in Orange Beach, but they all cost money.

- davidw, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

I am a Orange Beach resident. I decided to go check the beach where I onced planned on taking my children to during their summer vacation. Where I have beautiful pictures of my children playing on the white sands and beautiful waters of the gulf, I now have these pictures to explain to my children why we are unable to go to the beach. I satisfy them until school starts by a little kiddie pool in our back yard and a neighborhood pool. The neighborhood pool often has a lot more people because there is no where else to go. I live between the ocean and a canal and I do not feel comfortable going to either. I would really hope someone would see these pictures today and see that what we are doing is not enough. Not only is there oil in the sand and tar balls but there is a smell in the air. It is not crisp salty air, I would describe it more of like being in a auto shop. So here are some pictures that I captured today.

How would you feel?

A bird caught in the oil.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-468175

Massive pools of tar soil white beaches
July 2, 2010 | Pensacola, Florida

Click to view dianasteph's profile Posted by:
dianasteph

CNN producer note

dianasteph took this photo of tar on Pensacola Beach on June 30.
- ccostello3, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

Big pools of oil and tar soil the white beaches of Pensacola.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-468163

The Pensacola Oil Blues
July 2, 2010 | Pensacola, Florida | Vetting explained

Click to view geoffliving's profile Posted by:
geoffliving

CNN producer note

'I think my mouth dropped down to my chest,' geoffliving said as he described finding the tar ball that was bigger than his foot. 'It was unbelievable. I just couldn’t believe it. It was definitely a rubbernecking moment.' geoffliving traveled to the Gulf to document the oil disaster. 'We need to pull together now. These consequences from this disaster will be far-reaching,' he said.
- ccostello3, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

We finished a five day trip to the Gulf fact finding about the oil spill with a trip to Pensacola Beach. From oil booms and and white caps to a fleeing cow ray and the inevitable oiled beaches, it was a stark morning. One oil "tar ball" was bigger than my size 11 1/2 foot.

We were devastated seeing the incredible impact of oil on the marine environment and the local community. Perhaps the most desperate of all the photos for me was the cow ray. According to one local and an EPA official who asked to remain anonymous, the cow rays and other marine animals are migrating en masse towards the Atlantic to avoid poisoning from the oil toxified waters.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-468102

Gulf Waters Stained Red, Gulf Shores
July 1, 2010 | Gulf Shores, Alabama | Vetting explained

Click to view bcblair's profile
Posted by:
bcblair

CNN producer note

'This is our home and our way of life, regardless of if you make your living through the Gulf or not, you will be affected if you live here,' bcblair said. 'It is the 4th of July weekend and there are normally too many people in this town to think straight. It is a virtual ghost town in comparison.'
- ccostello3, CNN iReport producer
iReport —

Me in my home town of Gulf Shores where the oil is destroying not only the economy and wildlife but our way of life. WE ARE NOT SATISFIED BP.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-468029

Pensacola Beach Calls For Heavy Equipment
July 1, 2010 | Pensacola, Florida | Vetting explained

Click to view cap10scot's profile Posted by:
cap10scot

CNN producer note

iReport —

Tourists and locals along Pensacola Beach were seen watching the work of heavy equipment working around-the-clock, day and night trying keep up with the battle of the arriving oil. Loaders carry off bags of oil and tar balls collected by overnight workers while a line of defense was being laid at the waterline in an attempt to capture the beach staining oil film.

Surf littered with sticky tar that is very difficult to wash off
June 30, 2010 | Pen, Pennsylvania

CNN producer note

'[The water] looked pretty toxic,' dianasteph said. 'It feels greasy, oily. You can definitely feel chunks of stuff hitting you."
- ccostello3, CNN iReport producer

iReport —

The beach remains soiled with oil and tar balls. Although the beach is open, the water is still very dirty and full of toxic tar and sheen. I show you sheen mouse and how difficult it is to get the oil off of you.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-467625

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-467744

Day Four, sightings of oiled Pelicans on Garcon Point
July 1, 2010 | pensacola, Florida |

CNN producer note

JamesAmerson has covered the oil disaster's effects in Pensacola closely since it first happened.
- Thanks, CNN iReport producer
iReport —

07.01.10 7:30am

It is the forth day in a row that oiled Pelicans have been seen on the shores of Garcon Point, which sits on Escambia Bay and east of Pensacola, Florida.

We dont know where the Pelicans got into the oil and only a few you can tell have oil on them. Each day the wildlife rescue is called and each day the rescue crews try to capture these little guys. The sickest or oiliest are easy to catch because it is hard for them to fly but the others dont have enough oil on them to keep them from taking flight, which makes it next to impossible to rescue them and wash the oil off.

The rescue crews are now using cast nets, a much larger net that fishermen use to throw over a school of fish, instead of the much smaller nets on the ends of long polls.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-467857

Photos from the Gulf - June 29
July 1, 2010 | Florida | Vetting explained

Marine Biologist Dr. Chris Pincetich of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project is organizing sea turtle rescue operations from the Gulf of Mexico regarding the BP oil spill.

FInd out more at www.seaturtles.org

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/interactive/2010/05/us/gallery.large.oil.spill/image...

An American flag is pitched in the sand as workers clear off some of the oil residue at Pass Christian, Mississippi, on Sunday, July 4.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/interactive/2010/05/us/gallery.large.oil.spill/image...

Cleanup workers drag bags of absorbent material on Friday (7/2/10) in Grand Isle.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/EclecticBadger/Random/OilSpillTheLastRe...

One solution (pun) BP forgot to try...

GETTY IMAGES

Oil cleanup workers pull a bag of thick oil into their boat Thursday (7/1/10) in Gulfport, Mississippi.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/interactive/2010/05/us/gallery.large.oil.spill/image...