Gulf Restoration Network

Bird’s-Eye View: Oil On The Surface, Still Blog - BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Friday, 30 July 2010 12:09

On yet another recent flyover, I flew out to the site where the Horizon sank and then back towards land crossing over the Chandeleur Islands. Despite what BP and the Unified Command has been claiming for the last couple of weeks, there was indeed plenty of oil to be seen. What’s more is that this oil could have been skimmed had they only had skimmers anywhere within 50 miles of where I spotted the oil.This begs the question: if I can hop in a seaplane and fly out for about three hours and find oil, then why can’t the 50 planes that the Unified Command claims are scouring the area? I  find it curious that I never seem to see more than two or three planes in the air when I take these flyovers.

Nevertheless, I can tell you that on this particular day I found oil, and lots of it, between the Horizon site and the Chandeleurs. I can tell you that I saw heavy oil hitting the sandy beaches of those islands. I can also tell you that I did not see a single vessel working to contain any of that oil. This is beyond frustrating.

I can also tell you that I will continue to take flyovers to ground truth these bogus claims. And, I will continue to provide photos from these flyovers as evidence. My next flyover is tomorrow morning. Stay tuned…

Jonathan Henderson is the Coastal Resiliency Organizer for GRN