The weather has us down

The last two days have been rather uneventful. The winds, rain, and high seas have kept us mostly on stand down, so I've been able to catch up on some sleep. We have bone out for at least an hour each day just to make a quick pass around our zones, but have been called in for safety reasons each morning. With Tropical Storm Alex in the Gulf, we are expecting the weather to be pretty nasty for the next day or so. Here are a few video clips - the first is from yesterday on the boat, and the other is the Gulf today.

As you can see, the Gulf didn't appear to be very rough, but it was quite a bumpy ride.

We are renting our camp from one of the captains, who is staying on the first floor of the camp. He has been amazing to us - last week he threw us a crawfish boil, and tomorrow, he is cooking jambalaya and bringing in a masseuse from New Orleans to give us all massages! I am really looking forward to the massage - a few days on a bumpy boat definitely takes its toll on your back. Overall though, I'm holding up pretty well. I'm finally getting used to the sun and not burning so badly, and having the last day or so to rest has been a wonderful treat.

I can't say I have much to complain about. We have a great team of biologists down here. While living with seven women is definitely a change for me, so far so good. I just moved into a private room tonight, which I am happy about. Everyone is wonderful, but I will enjoy having some private time.

The biologists with us are from all over the country, including Washington DC, New Jersey, Arkansas, Ohio, and one man all the way from Canada. I am the oldest in the girl house, while the guys typically are a little older. Some days I show my age and go to bed super early - I just can't go with no sleep like I used to back in college! We have a TV here that picks up 1 channel, so sometimes in the evenings we watch whatever is on, but most of our time is spent on the patio or underneath the camp on the swings. The guys will come down on some evenings and have dinner with us or just hang out. We have the nicer house, so it tends to be where everyone gravitates to. I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone on our team, and have already made some great friends.

If there is a break in the weather tomorrow, I will go take some pictures around the island.

Day 4

Not much to report tonight.  The oil slick is still looming offshore, but there was not much activity today.  The big buzz around the island has been about Tropical Storm Alex.  If it looks like it will come near Louisiana, we will be evacuating.  Hopefully by tomorrow we will know what is going to happen.

I'm holding up pretty well - it's hot as hell and being in the sun for 12 hours a day has been an adjustment for my poor pasty white skin.  I'm fairly sunburned and sporting pretty white raccoon eyes and funky red stripes on my feet from my boat sandals.  I'm trying to be cautious about staying hydrated on the boat, and I'm limiting myself to 2 glasses of wine in the evenings.  I'll probably be exhausted by the end of next week, but I'll be going home for a 2 day R&R on July 9th!

The oil is coming

What an interesting two days.

I'm starting to feel comfortable with my job down here and getting the hang of things.  While our team is officially called the "Wildlife Rescue Team", we do much more than that.  We leave dock around 6:30 am and are assigned to a specific zone of the Grand Isle area.  For the last two days, my team has been patrolling the area between Grand Isle and Empire, LA (which is on the Mississippi River).  It is an area with a lot of open water and small rookery islands, so it is a very crucial area to protect.  Our captain will drive us out to our zone and then begin traveling to the areas where birds are often found so that we can check on them and make sure none are oiled or injured.  We try to stay as far away from the islands as possible and observe using binoculars to avoid disturbing the colonies.  But beyond that, we also check our entire zone for oil and/or dispersant plumes and we also check the booms that are placed around certain areas.  If we discover any plumes or boom which needs to be repaired or replaced, we radio it in to headquarters.  HQ will then dispatch a boom crew or skimmer boats to address the problem.  The entire system is extremely well organized, and from what I've seen, action is taken quickly after the report is made.  Here are a few pictures from the last 2 days.

Such a telling picture

One of the many bird rookeries with both soft and hard protective boom around it

A closer shot of a rookery.  The number of bird species and individuals is amazing.  It smells horrible, however.

A funnel cloud spotted very near our boat.  Not something you want to see when you are in the middle of nowhere.

Yesterday our zone was basically spotless.  Virtually all of the oil that came onshore 2 weeks ago has been cleaned up, and the main focus has been on maintaining and placing new boom around sensitive areas.  Today however, we noticed a marked increase in the amount of plumes that we saw.  A 20 square mile slick was spotted less than a mile offshore, and is predicted to hit us sometime tomorrow.  All day we saw skimmer boats mobilizing to the area to begin fighting the plume as it approaches.  Although the work will definitely reduce the impact of the oil, I can't help but thinking that a large amount of oil will still reach the marshes.  The next two days are expected to be very busy - unfortunately it looks like the wildlife recovery will be back in full swing.  I apologize that my pictures aren't great - the lens of my camera fogs up constantly.

This is a plume of oil mixed with dispersant, which was approximately 3/4 of a mile long.  

This is a skimmer boat, which is actually a shrimping boat that is now towing skimmers and boom instead of shrimp nets.  These guys respond to our reports of slicks and do their best to remove the contamination.  All are local boats piloted by local fisherman.

My work here so far has been very tiring, but very rewarding.  We are so lucky to have wonderful accommodations and a great crew of people that are both skilled and passionate about what we are doing.  Everyone is 100% dedicated to protecting the wildlife and habitat - it is very inspiring.  The beautiful scenery and beach-front house don't hurt either.  :)  As I sit here on the balcony listening to the waves of the gulf and looking at the full moon (and nursing quite a sunburn), I know without a doubt that I made the right decision in coming here. 

First day on the boat

Man, what a day.

We got to the dock around 6:00 this morning, had a brief meeting to get our assignments, and then set off.  I was teamed with a wonderful captain who used to run fishing charters, a member of LDWF, and a fellow biologist.  We were assigned a certain zone of the area to survey for the day.  

This is our boat:

One of the things we received in our meeting was a boxed lunch to take on the boat.  Around 11:00, we stopped at a random fishing camp and had lunch.  I was quite happy with the actual lunch!

We spent our day surveying our zone looking for signs of oil contamination or any oiled or injured wildlife.  Our section is fairly far inland, so it has not seen much oil.  All of the marshland we saw was healthy and in good shape, as were the birds.  It was pretty damned awesome to be riding around such a beautiful part of Louisiana.  The wetlands and waterways down here are breathtaking.   The one sad thing was the loss of land - it's one thing to hear about it on the news or read about it, and another thing entirely to witness it.  Our captain had a GPS unit with maps that were from approximately 2004 (prior to Katrina).  All day, as we drove through giant bays of open water, the GPS would show that we were in the middle of a land mass.  The area has lost so much land both during and after Katrina...it's hard for me to even describe.

Frigate birds in front of a camp ruined by Katrina

Speaking of birds, we saw a good amount of birds and other wildlife today, including: porpoises, pelicans, terns, herons, egrets, and a ton of others.  Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to get some good close-up shots of some of the great birds we have down here.

We did stop by one of the rookery islands which was amazing.  I can't even begin to estimate how many birds were nesting on that island.  The island is protected by 2 layers of hard boom material to keep any future oil from reaching the sensitive habitat.  There is also extra boom set up for standby even further off the island; in the event of a storm or major oil intrusion, they will have plenty ready to replace the damaged or oiled boom.

My apologies for the bad quality of some of these pictures - apparently I smeared sunscreen on the lens of the camera and didn't realize it.  Oops!

Day 1 in Grand Isle

I arrived in Grand Isle around 11:00 this morning and have been getting settled in for most of the day.  We have an amazing camp located on the beach - it's more than I could have hoped for.  

The island is very crowded with workers, security, and National Guard and Coast Guard personnel.  It stormed most of the day, so I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures, but here are a few I captured of the beach.

The real work starts tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more interesting news to report!

June 23 - Houma, LA

I arrived in Gray, LA last night (right outside of Houma) around 8:00.  This is the "home base" set up for incoming folks as well as out-of-towners that are on their off-days.  I don't know what I was expecting - but it wasn't this.  This house is massive.  So far I've counted 4 kitchens and I'm sure there are others I just haven't seen yet.  It sleeps at least 20 people, but last night there were only 4 of us.  Myself and a man from Canada will be leaving for Grand Isle today, while another gentleman from Ohio is heading to Dennis Pass. 

 

Last night, the house was absolutely covered with tree frogs.  The folks from out-of-state were pretty amazed.  We get tree frogs at my house in Baton Rouge, but even I was a little awed by the sheer number of them.  Here's one of the guys that was hanging out on the back door.

Today I will attend training here in Houma before heading down to Grand Isle.  Once there, I will check in and will most likely have the afternoon to get settled in and explore.  I hope to have time to get some great pictures of the island.  The real work starts tomorrow!

This is the drive I will be making tomorrow.  Luckily I'm located in south Louisiana, so overall I will only be about three hours away.  I will be in Houma tomorrow night through Wednesday, and will continue on to Grand Isle hopefully Thursday. 

I have been fishing in Grand Isle a few times, so it will be very telling to see an area that I know after it has been affected by the spill.  From what I have read and seen on the news, the island is basically shut down to tourism and fishing, so I can't imagine that it's in very good shape.  I guess I will get to see for myself later this week. 

On my way!

I finally got my marching orders today - I'm leaving for Houma, LA Tuesday night.  I will be there for a day or two for intake and training before I get my assignment.  At this point it looks like I will end up in Grand Isle.  I am so relieved that I know when I'm heading out, but now I'm starting to get a little nervous.  Being away from home for weeks at a time won't be easy for me, or those I'm leaving behind.   This is something that is so important to me that I think it will be worth the sacrifice. 

I'll know more about my accommodations once I get down there, but I'm hoping I at least have internet access so that I can keep this blog updated.  Look for an update on Tuesday!

Well, I'm still in Baton Rouge

My deployment to the coast has been delayed.  Apparently there has been a 'slow down' in the work and until US Fish and Wildlife sends more personnel to oversee the teams of biologists, I'm sitting dead in the water.  It's more than frustrating, seeing as how I've taken a leave of absence from my job and have been sitting at home doing nothing for a week.  I am hopeful that I will be leaving soon, though.  I have been assured that there is a position for me and that I will be going, though now I may end up in one of the other affected states.  Considering how important it is for me to work in my own home state, I will be doing everything I can to make sure I am able to work in Louisiana. 

But for now, I'm living the extremely boring life of the unemployed.  My house is very clean, so I guess that's a plus.

One week to go

Today I started my official leave of absence from work.  It's weird to think about what I am leaving behind, but I still feel that I am making a good decision.  Going on this adventure is likely to be hard and probably often uncomfortable, but will also be (I hope) an amazing opportunity. 

All of my pre-trip shopping seems to be done, now I just have to start the mind-boggling process of packing.  Because my accommodations will not be a comfortable hotel room and I will be nowhere near a Wal-Mart, I have to try to pack everything I might conceivably need without going overboard on the luggage.  I will be out in the field for 14 days at a time, with possibly one day off between deployments.  Although we are supposed to have access to laundry facilities, I still plan on having at least 2 weeks worth of field clothes with me just in case.  Add to that the boots and other field equipment, and I think I will be getting a giant army duffel to use as luggage.  The big trick will be getting said giant duffel to fit in the passenger seat of my car (I have no back seat and my trunk is 3 cubic feet).  Should be an interesting drive!

Snake boots are sexy

I have done my share of field work over the years, but never have I had the need for waterproof, snakeproof, camouflaged  wonders such as these.  They are so clean and new that I feel like I should go run around in the yard with them for a few hours and scuff them up - that way the other biologists won't think I'm a newb. 

Introduction

This is my first foray into blogging, and that will likely be pretty apparent as the days go on, so please forgive me for that.  I have never felt I had anything important enough to say or share with the world that would merit a blog until now.  I recently made a decision to leave home and travel to the Louisiana coast to work as a biologist with the BP oil spill clean-up effort.  I don't really know what I am in for, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous and scared.  I imagine that keeping this record of my experiences to share with family and friends will help me keep a little of my sanity during my months of long, hot, hard days. 

As a life-long resident of Louisiana, I have been following the oil spill on the news since the explosion occurred on April  20th.  My initial horror and sadness for the eleven workers who lost their lives was replaced by an even deeper dread once it became clear that this event would have far-reaching consequences.  I have dedicated my career to the environmental field - it is both my passion and my paycheck.  For many weeks I dreamed of leaving my current job to go help with the cleanup effort, and woke up one day with the realization that I really needed to go.  This is one of the worst environmental disasters in American history, and certainly one of the worst for Louisiana - the state I was born in and have made my home.  I am by no means an expert biologist, but anything I can offer to help the wildlife and natural habitats that have been affected is better than if I sat by and did nothing.  How can I not go?