oil slick

[ronc98]

Who all down south is going to be effected by the oil slick in the Gulf? I know EE is rather close, Anyone else down that way? I wonder what the mood is over this? Rather tragic if you ask me.

[EmergencyExit]

Thanks Ron - the best word I can think of is "tense". Much like waiting for that big hurricane to come ashore and wondering how it ill play out.

Watching it closely here to see where/how it comes ashore. Likely worst result will be to the seafood or fishing industry on the Louisiana and Mississippi coast. Most of them are independent locals who depend on that daily trip out for a living. An excellent read on how this could effect who is at

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... wD9FF10B00

and

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/01/oil.impact.gulf/

Something like 30% of the seafood consumed in the states come from these waters. We shall see over the next week....

[EmergencyExit]

A postscript - just heard a great quote that says it all about the attitude of the locals down there being ready to pitch in and do what they can to fix the problem. Local fisherman said "I don't want to point fingers, don't want to blame. What I want to do is get some work done."

[thepartydog]

I guess I am closer (financially) to the impact that this will have. NERVOUS, VERY NERVOUS. That would be the mood here. I have to agree with EE that it is like waiting on a hurricane, but one that will last for a week or more. I will be tweeting as @thepartydog for the duration of this nightmare with updates of the status of the FWB and Destin beaches. There are some pictures of the Destin Pass and Okaloosa Island beaches with no oil in the tweets.

Right now, there is no oil on our beaches, and no chemical oil smell either. If the oil spill washes ashore here, there are not enough booms to protect the beaches. There are only enough booms to try to protect the passes to the bays, preventing an even more severe ecological disaster. That is very bad news for a tourist industry that was on the road to recovery after two crushing years of "the bad economy". If the beaches get covered in oil, or the chemical smell requires evacuations, the phrase "put it on BP's bill" will become very common around here. The sharks are already circling. We've already met with them (the class action kind). My bad, I meant no disrespect for the seafaring kind of shark, they are already having a bad enough time.

Even if the oil spill doesn't ruin our beaches, we will be fighting all summer against the misconception that the whole gulf coast is covered in oil. Our reservations call center has already received hundreds of phone calls from concerned incoming guests.

So, pretty much NERVOUS. all caps on purpose.

Darin

[EmergencyExit]

Darrin,I know some folks on Dauphin Island and the Fort Morgan peninsula and they sure are in that same boat with you. We'll be following the tweets.

[Banshi]

They need two things to help minimize this, first they need to get it plugged, second some really bad weather to break the slick up, in that order, unfortunately looks like the bad weather hit first preventing a quick plug up of the leak.

My guess is this was eco terrorism by a group like green peace trying to push tighter restrictions. It is no coincidence that this occurred right after the boy king said we need to increase drilling.

[CaptainScott]

That whole situation is just sad. Really sucks.
I feel bad for those that are affected.

Puget Sound has been extremely lucky in that respect so far.

Scott

[mga1951]

My wife and I were just down there 2 weeks ago. Biloxi... Did an evening sail on a schooner. Beautiful. Have close friends there that made it thru Katrina and now this. They both work at the casino's and this will really hurt the whole place.
there were lots of places still not back together from the hurricane.
I heard a fisherman on TV and he said when Katrina came in, they knew the water was clean. They would be back on their boats in a month or 2.This time the water is not.. and they may never get back on the water.

[EmergencyExit]

The "white-winged angels" are beautiful ships, as close as we are I've never taken a cruise tho...

So far the slick is staying out, a bit of landfall at the mouth of the Mississippi delta in Louisana. that's good news for us, but worse news for partydog if the winds move and it spreads east.

[thepartydog]

They started putting booms in the east pass Thursday. I saw them on my way home from work, it was too dark for me to get pictures. I might tweet some pics today or tomorrow.

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.twitter.com/thepartydog/ My twitter, with some pics.

http://www.destinresorts.com/webcams.aspx Live webcams from work. We're pushing the oil free angle for as long as we can.

[Banshi]

"They would be back on their boats in a month or 2.This time the water is not.. and they may never get back on the water."

Sounds like someone is looking for a free ride on someone else's penny.........

This is being way over blown. I would be willing to bet there will be little if any evidence of this spill in a year. Oil was leaking from the gulf sea floor long before man started poking holes in it.

[thepartydog]

Banshi,

I can see why they could have such a dismal outlook. There are a bunch of unknowns about this situation. Such as can they cap the well in a timely fashion, weather, the ecological effects of the dispersant on their fishing grounds. All they currently know is that their fishing grounds are closed, and the oil is still leaking. Of course, I understand their pain, our losses are considerable, and "the only oil on our beaches is sun tan oil".