Gulf Coast BP Oil Spill

Every year I go down to the New Orleans area to see friends I have in the area and take some pictures of their adorable girls.  I typically fly into Gulfport as the airport is a breeze to fly in/out of and it’s near outlets (WOO!) and the beach.  We always stop at the beach to do a portrait session when I’m there so it makes sense to fly in/out of there.  Two and a half years ago, it was still a sad place to see – the coastline was still literally in shambles from Katrina and while there was signs of promise on the horizon, it mostly was a graveyard of buried hopes.  Over the past two years the area has rebuilt and came back better than before with newer casinos (no more barges this time around!) and homes being rebuilt and restored.

Now a new disaster has struck, the oil spill.  It’s horribly sad that an area that has already had its fair share of destruction and hard times has to face yet another crisis.  When flying in you could see patches of the oil from the air and on the beach you don’t have to go far to find evidence of it.  While the oil isn’t as predominant on the beach in Gulfport like it is in Destin, it still is there and a visible reminder of what may come and what it has already destroyed.  This isn’t something that is going to be fixed this year, next year or maybe even in our lifetimes.  In Ohio it’s a passing topic that is usually only talked about when all speculation of where LeBron James is going fizzles out.  In the Gulf Coast, it’s all anyone can think or talk of because this oil spill could mean the end as life as they know it.

An oil boom that broke off and washed up along the shore.  From the air you can see long strands of these guarding the coves from oil.  As you can see, they soak up the oil on the surface and are very similar in looks to pantyhose with cotton stuffed inside.

A tar ball that washed ashore.  Further down there were many more like this but the beach was closed for cleanup.  I had never seen one of these before and was surprised how much it looked like an ordinary rock.