Photo by Erika
Blumenfeld 2010
Photo by Erika
Blumenfeld 2010
The vile physical destruction of these fragile wetlands is an ominous precursor of worse that is to come. Wildlife experts recently reported that the toll on sea birds from the BP catastrophe will soon change dramatically for the worse.
"Scientists warn that as shifting weather and sea conditions conspire with the dynamics of avian life cycles, a tremendous number of birds will soon be put in jeopardy," says an article in Scientific American. "In the coming weeks, millions of waterfowl and other birds that flock to the U.S. Gulf Coast on their annual fall migration will arrive in the region either to roost for the winter or to make brief stopovers en route farther south. With toxic crude still gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico and streaks of the slick creeping inexorably farther inland, many more birds and other wildlife that nest, feed and find shelter on shore are likely to become casualties."
This warning has sparked a desperate rush to try to find ways to lure tens of millions of migrating birds away from the oil-infested marsh that has historically served as their habitat.
"The impact of the Gulf disaster on migrating birds will be like a train derailment during rush hour," Frank Gill, president of the National Audubon Society, said. "Not only will it affect the entire system, but its repercussions will be long-lasting."
This concern has spurred the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service to launch a $20 million program that aims to pay landowners in the Gulf region to idle land, restore wetlands and enhance habitat.
Will it work? This worsening disaster shows us how futile it is to tinker with nature - whether it be via drilling for oil in the depths, or then trying to mitigate the annihilation of nature and life in ways that often make the situation worse via unforeseen consequences.
And this comes on the heels of destruction in this area caused by oil and gas companies that spans decades. "They dug these canals that have let the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico into what used to be fresh-water marshes," Charlie, who has spent more than five years flying over this area, tells us while we fly over the remnants of what used to be a fertile, green carpet of a marsh, "that let all the saltwater in that killed the marsh. This land is now fractured. It's blown all to hell."
Most of the small marsh islands we fly over are soiled black and brown by BP's oil. Some of the worst areas are surrounded by brand-new, pure white boom that has no oil on it. This boom, aside from possibly keeping more oil from reaching the already destroyed area, functions as little more than show, given that the oil has already contaminated the marsh island.
Photo by Erika
Blumenfeld 2010
Sheen covers most of the bay. As we fly low over shallower areas, ripples move across the sheen that are caused by schools of fish moving just below the surface.
In another area, a pelican flies parallel to a red boom. I wonder if it will land in sheen-covered water, or if its rookery has already been destroyed.
Photo by Erika
Blumenfeld 2010
Photo by Erika
Blumenfeld 2010
Charlie flies us out near the barrier islands that separate the bay from the Gulf of Mexico. Between two of the islands, just behind one of them, a series of barges are being set up, end on end, in a crude attempt to block off the pass between two islands.
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