Skimming ?

The Captain of the Mobile Bay Ferry told me yesterday, June 30, he was suspending operations because oil was coming into the bay and he did not want to run his boat through it. That is the first time in this 72-day nightmare he closed the ferry because a slug of floating oil endangered his boat. 

View from the ferry in better times

 

He told me he would reevaluate at 3:00 pm and hoped to reopen once the oil slick floated through. 

Over at the little snack shop Pat packed up and went home, she would have even fewer customers than normal (and normal this summer isn’t good). 

We anxiously looked out at the bay for some sign the shrimp boats and tankers anchored there would burst into action and pull booms across the entrance to capture and skim the oil. 

You would need a camera with a panorama lens to capture the 'vessels of opportunity' anchored in the bay Wednesday, but you can 'zoom in' to see some of the shrimp boats & tankers

 

But nothing happened so I guess the oil passed ‘safely’ through into the bay? 

I learned later that afternoon, from one of the captains based at the marina, the infuriating reason for the lack of action to protect the Bay of Mobile. 

No, it wasn’t because the surf was up in the gulf – the water was calm in the bay. The boats could not respond because of a stupid political squabble. 

The crews had been released for the day so the boats could be moved to Orange Beach. Evidently the mayor there, Tony Kennon, had ‘persuaded’ the BP contractors to move their boats from Fort Morgan to Zeke’s in Orange Beach because of lost revenue. Fortunately, the Coast Guard vetoed the stupid plan before the flotilla could get underway yesterday, but too late to call the crews back to battle the oil slick. 

file photo from: http://blog.al.com/live/2008/08/baldwin_judge_to_orange_beach.html

 

So I guess we have the Mayor of Orange Beach to thank for the oil in Mobile Bay today? Hundreds of crewmen were affected by the proposed move yesterday, so this story would be easy to verify…. but it has not been reported in the local media. 

But to be honest, we haven’t seen the ‘vessels of opportunity’ move from their anchors in the bay for more than a week. There is a small fleet of ships rounding the point every morning and afternoon, but many, many more that never move. 

Again, my camera is not capable of taking a good panoramic view of the bay, but more detail can be seen by ‘zooming in’ on the photos. These pics were taken Monday and Tuesday when the surf was ‘light chop’ ( the download was time/date stamped by my computer). 

Tuesday, June 24

  

Monday, June 28

So while some of the country is celebrating the decision to waive the Jones Act and allow foreign boats to participate in the gulf cleanup, 

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/07/01/experts-agree-jones-act-has-no-effect-on-gulf-oil-response/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog 

those of us with a view of Mobile Bay are asking why our own boats aren’t participating in the efforts. Maybe because they look good on camera for BP? 

Brian Williams ended the NBC news with an aerial shot of the bay and a comment on the boats idled by Hurricane Alex. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#38027394 

I’ve got a news flash for you, Mr Williams, it looked just the same on Tuesday night, Monday night, Sunday night….

Much ado about nothin’

The oil on my beach had not been cleaned today, day three (3) since it was reported. 

I went down to see if I could take Sophie on a short walk before work, but obviously it wasn’t possible, and I suffered her withering glare while I packed my lunch. The beach is my old dog’s paradise, we walked every day in better times.

But I was  excited about the impending Presidential visit today so she got an extra treat and I headed out with my camera charged.

The day went as usual, except for the concrete barricades placed in the parking lot of the ferry beside the admission booth for Fort Morgan.

Many of the summer tourists were excited about the Presidential visit and asked if they could remain on site. Having heard nothing since the hushed rumors Friday, we did not dissuade them. 

Until 1:45 PM…   as verified by my cell phone calls to Administration.

We were ordered off the property as though we were trespassing. A small young man in khaki told us to leave immediately.

No one, not our impotent Governor (does Bobby Jindal have a brother?) traveling with the President, nor the Montgomery Historical Commission, who asked us to take photos of the historic event, and especially not the state or local law officers running  down the road, (because they could today) at 100 mph gave us any advance warning that we needed to vacate.

We left, but we all pulled off the road somewhere along Highway 180 in the hope we could demonstrate our hope/outrage for the historic visit.  Our website photographer, Janice Neitzel, spent the entire day in a futile attempt to get a single photograph at the request of the Fort Morgan administration.

Evidently President Obama crossed Mobile Bay on the ferry (a photo op, but not for locals) then jumped in a limo and fled down the Fort Morgan Highway at 75 mph (the road was officially closed from 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, I have the recorded message on my answering machine about the closing to prove it)

There were many people withering in the sun along the Fort Morgan Highway for hours who wanted him to slow and read their signs. I just wanted to tell him to stop at an undesignated site to see how we live when BP isn’t cleaning for a Presidential visit. 

According to news reports he blew through Gulf Shores, windows rolled up tight and is spending the night in Pensacola. 

I guess we were hoping, against hope, someone would stop and visit our beaches and listen to our stories.

Was this just another PR event?  Did he even get out of his car to see an oil soaked beach in Alabama? 

Did he accomplish anything here he couldn’t have done at home in Washington, or was this just another disruption of our already disrupted lives?

 I hope when the tide rolls out in Pensacola tonite, he gets a glimpse of the reality of life on the gulf, and I hope the cameras are rolling….

Thank you, Mr. President, for coming to the gulf coast to talk to us, I guess we have a better understanding of what we can expect from your administration.

A Whale of a Fish Tale

On my second day of work, when they all noticed I drove a hybrid Insight and had to admit to being a ‘tree hugger’, Jimmy told me this amazing fish story.

Jimmy is our very capable Tech and a really nice guy. He’s a longtime friend of my employers (who also own the Shady Lady, an impressive charter fishing boat) and he often accompanies the Clemons on their outings. The previous weekend they had been out in the Gulf and had the very, very rare experience of seeing dozens of Killer Whales. He’s been promising to loan me the video, but work has been busy and we both forget until we get to the office.

the ultimate 'Shamu' show!

But word of the trip has spread around the marina and last night it was on the local news. Rumor has it that CNN has picked up the story and it will be on this weekend.

WEAR TV only aired a snippet of the video, but it was absolutely astonishing. Their website this morning  has a photo and the story, but hopefully another station or CNN will post the video this weekend.

If Jimmy forgets to bring the tape to work this morning I may just follow him home and get it myself this afternoon. I am sooooooooo envious, it’s a once-in-a-hundred lifetimes experience! But, they have promised to take me out someday when the weather improves…. I’ll be happy to just see a dolphin!

The story from WEAR TV

Killer Whales Sighted in Gulf Of Mexico

 You’d expect to see them at theme parks and in the movies, but one group of local fisherman met some very large marine mammals in a very *unexpected place.

It’s a sight rarely seen, and seldom video taped.

Capt. Eddie Hall/Shady Lady,
“One of the guys on the boat, Jimmy, had spotted what appeared to be whales!… so we ran over to them and we were right, it was killer whales.”

On October 31st, Captain Eddie Hall and crew witnessed something they won’t soon forget… Approximately 200 killer whales spotted in the Gulf Of Mexico, about 60 miles south of the captain’s home port of Zeke’s Marina In Orange Beach, Alabama.

“There was some of them that would come 2 feet from the boat and dive right underneath the boat, and when they would dive, they would actually wake the boat.”

Most people would have to take a vacation to Sea World In Orlando to catch a sight like this.

Actually seeing killer whales in the gulf is very rare.

So rare, even scientists like Doctor Keith Mullin Of The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration could go for years without seeing any of them.

Dr. Keith Mullin/NOAA Research Biologist,
“We do our own surveys and some years we don’t see any, some years we’ll see one, one year we were quite lucky we saw 3 different groups of killer whales.”

Even our own fishing expert and host of gary finch outdoors couldn’t believe it at first.

Gary Finch/Gary Finch Outdoors:
“In the 30 years that I have gulf fished, I have never come across a school of killer whales.”

But the video is too impressive to deny…

Not only because of the beauty and mystery of the whales, but because of the landmark in the background.

This oil rig provides a positive location for the whale pods, and information like that is valuable when exploring the unknown waters of the gulf.

Have your camera ready… because you never know what you’re gonna get.

Last Updated: Thursday, December 4 2008, 07:23 PM

The WEAR website is: http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/fl/topstory/topstory3.shtml

Update: A better website with video is   

http://www.orangebeach.ws/2008/News/2008-12-03-Killers_in_the_Gulf_of_Mexico.html

Because more television crews were on site today, I will happily add those links as I find them!

http://www.nbc15online.com/news/local/story/Killer-Whales-Spotted-In-The-Gulf-Of-Mexico/KHEuY-R23UCAdn42K4Lvvg.cspx

http://www.wkrg.com/local/article/killer_whales_in_the_gulf_of_mexico/21653/

http://www.weartv.com/players/news/top_stories/wear_vid_5201.shtml