I made a return trip to Ocean Spring’s Mississippi this week on 2/23/11 to see how things looked 10 months after the BP Oil spill. All of these images were taken in the area of Lat 30,21.8599N Long 88,46.123W and each image contains the specific coordinates in the metadata. In the news this week there have been reports on numerous adu…lt and dead baby dolphins washing up on shore in Alabama and Mississippi, many more than is considered “normal”. I have visited this beach and have documentation from at least 5 times since August 2010. Unfortunately, not much has changed ……oil and chemical residue still coat the beach, erosion has taken a toll on large parts of the beach where mangroves and marsh grass once were thriving. I documented what appeared to be hundreds and thousands of dead tube worms on the beach. After consulting with a colleague and specialist from the University of Southern Mississippi, this explanation was given, “you may being seeing the ends of the tubes which are often cut off by the worms when the ends of the tubes become too long due to the erosion of the sediments around them. For maximum feeding ability, the tube opening normally extends an inch or two above the sediment.” This occurrence is unusual and illustrates the impact of the erosion of protective seashore flora and the destruction of ecosystems caused by the toxic chemicals and oil from the BP spill and aftermath. The beach has simply vanished into the gulf in many areas, dead pelicans, fish, jelly fish, turtles, and what appears to be a dear carcass continue to litter the beach 10 months after the spill.
See the rest of my coverage from mid may up to date at See the rest of my coverage from mid may up to date at http://nativeorleanian.com/category/bp-oil-spill/

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