This morning's patrol -- my first turtle patrol of the year -- was fairly uneventful. Gray day, gray sea, foggy and humid, with very high surf which spilled across to the road in some areas as you can see.
Not far into Ft. Pickens Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore, areas where some of the endangered and threatened birds such as Piping Plovers are nesting have been sectioned off and posted.
If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see that although this site is set back from the Gulf a hundred and fifty feet or more, the tide is high enough and the island low enough to experience a overwash at least a third of the way into the nesting area.
While the eggs/chicks can survive a short-lived/quickly draining overwash, visualize how an oily sheen washing across the same area might affect these eggs and tiny chicks.
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Oh DJ my heart too is breaking about this horrible situation. I've been heartsick since it happened. Why do we continue to make the same mistakes over and over without learning a thing? I'm praying and crying and hoping that, while it is inevitable that our beautiful beaches will be affected, that the damage is as minimal as is possible. That the oil will be stopped from leaking before too long and that the loss of marine animals and sea birds will be small. I take comfort in knowing that part of this paradise is not only the pristine beaches but the large hearted people who I know will band together and do whatever it takes for us to recover from this disaster.
I've been going to Pensacola Beach, ever since I was an child.
The thought of this is heartbreaking.
:'(
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