Going Green

When people think of "going green", I don't think the photos below are what they have in mind. But "going green" we are on the beach as we watch large amounts of June grass (an algae called Cladophora) continue washing ashore even as we reach the doorstep of September.


After almost two weeks of rain, stormy weather, and oft-canceled shifts, BP's cleaning crews were finally able to get back on the beach this morning and these are photos of what greeted them.


In the area where cleaning crews were setting up there was a mix of June grass, sargassum and tarballs, with an assortment of old trash which had washed up for good measure. Quite a mess.


From what I've experienced living here these past few years and what I've gathered from long-time local fishermen, it's very unusual to see June grass (an algae) this late in the season. We all wondered the same thing, if the dispersants used by BP (or the oil itself) have contributed to the proliferation of June grass this year.

You may click on the following link to read an interesting article from Time magazine, "Oil Spill: What's Going On Under the Gulf"