First Hand account: Florida Beaches Are Polluted With Oil (I was wrong)

reply to post by manonegro

Awesome!!!!
I hope more people like yourself do the same

However I wouldn't have been able to restrain myself and would have gathered samples and dumped them in the BP outreach office

[edit on 19-8-2010 by Lil Drummerboy]

reply to post by getreadyalready

So have you been feeling any different since your day at the beach?
healthwise?

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
reply to post by manonegro

 

Awesome!!!!
I hope more people like yourself do the same

However I wouldn't have been able to restrain myself and would have gathered samples and dumped them in the BP outreach office

[edit on 19-8-2010 by Lil Drummerboy]

Yeah man, I really wanted to do that. Exactly that. I even told my wife I should do it, but it was a family trip and my mom, wife, son, sister and her husband and kids were there. I just had to contain myself. I know karma will take care of it. It wasn't my day to be an agent of karma…

I haven't felt any different since being in the water. I'm sure I've put a lot worse in my body throughout my teens and 20's


I wouldn't want to be soaking in there long term though. I didn't notice any odor or fumes or anything like that, but like I said, there was definitely oil in the water.

I haven't seen any reports of beach goers being impacted health-wise. Not to say that nothing will show up long or short term. But I haven't had any reactions. Knock on wood…

A thread posted today on ATS, referencing latest news.


BP oil spill: US scientist retracts assurances over success of cleanup
www.abovetopsecret.com...

There are facts.
Fact, BP is responsible for the greatest ecological disaster of all time.
Fact BP dumped unknown numbers of gallons of a chemical whose manufacturer says there is no way to know what their product will do when used in such a manner.
Fact BP could have avoided this for mere pennies on the dollar, but was too cheap to do it here. Other countries demanded that equipment be installed or no wells.
Fact, non of us can predict the future and what may be waiting for us just around the corner.

This isn't going to be over in the blink of an eye. BP can't just announce 'it's all better now. Nothing to see here. Go home.' They are in our home with their muddy feet and absolutely no regard for those of us who live along the coast, or for that matter, for anyone living in this country.

I would be interested in knowing of any health problems you and/or your family members might have especially two weeks from now. I do hope you dont have any.

This is all just so nausiating. How could they do this. Greed is one thing. This is worse. Oil could have been cleaned up evetually. This? I feel like I am in mourning for my dearest friend.

Was just down in the same area. White beaches, high tides, rough waters. Plenty of wildlife. Only dead wildlife I saw was pile after pile after pile of scallop shells from folks who beat me there. By the way, harvested and ate scallops with no problems. Conchs were large and plentiful. Don't cancel your vacation to Cape San Blas because of this guys paranoia.

Originally posted by beaverg
Was just down in the same area. White beaches, high tides, rough waters. Plenty of wildlife. Only dead wildlife I saw was pile after pile after pile of scallop shells from folks who beat me there. By the way, harvested and ate scallops with no problems. Conchs were large and plentiful. Don't cancel your vacation to Cape San Blas because of this guys paranoia.

Did you read my last couple of posts? Local news is reporting tar balls on St. George and "oily mousse" at Alligator Point (where I was.) University of South Florida is reporting oil coating the bottom of the ocean 40 miles SE of Panama City (very near to San Blas).

This is not paranoia it is confirmed!

As for eating the scallops, they are the first thing to help clean up the oil. If there is oil anywhere, there is certainly oil in the oysters and scallops.

I'm glad you had a good trip, and I'm glad the beach was pretty while you were here. If you read my posts, I was down in Panama City a couple of weeks ago myself. The beach was beautiful then too! This has only started washing up in the last week or so.

reply to post by beaverg


Sounds like a lovely holiday ... any pics?

reply to post by getreadyalready


I wish I had made it to Alligator Point to see what you saw. But we were told at St. George State Park that it was a big scallop farm operation so going there was a waste of time. Honestly I couldn't tell if it was locals protecting their sweet spot or not but we skipped it because of the advice. But while we were there the beach actually did have a red stain. But Cape San Blas and St. Joseph Peninsula were clean further west so I honestly thought it wasn't related to the oil.

Because of the trip I missed out on those stories, so my apologies getreadyalready. Also thanks, I wish your trip had gone better. Check your u2us in a few minutes.

reply to post by beaverg


I don't know of any big scallop farm operation, they may be correct and I am just not aware of it, but I know there are a ton of folks out doing it.

Right now is probably a great time, because many of the oystermen, and fishermen are out working for BP. Also, most of the tourists cancelled their trips, and the market for Gulf Seafood is not good.

Amateur fishermen that I know, that are not already working for BP, are having fantastic fishing experiences.

In my opinion, I will start avoiding shell fish as of now, and I will start avoiding game fish from the Gulf in another month or so. This stuff will get through the food chain, it is just a matter of time.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


Sure was, here are two. If I could get a youtube account to start I'll post what I can. But I think that google is running a text message racket with their authentication process.

St. Joseph Peninsula


St. George


You can kind of see the reddish color on the second picture.

Getreadyalready, I was going to u2u the second picture so don't worry about that anymore. Playing it on the safe side is probably the best bet if you have any reservations at all.

reply to post by beaverg


Those are great. That is a lot closer to what our beaches typically look like. What date were those taken?

reply to post by SarK0Y


I wish I could, I'm already back home. Sorry.

reply to post by getreadyalready


August 15th and 16th. I found an article you mentioned about the tar balls washing up on St. George if anyone else was interested. Oddly enough it was the 11th result on the search engine, missing from the first page: www.allvoices.com... island It was dated the 18th so I guess I just missed it.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by Come Clean

 

Originally posted by Come Clean
Okay,

I'm from The Great State of Texas. I know what that water looks like. That is without a doubt the Gulf of Mexico water.

I have no doubt about that.

What I can't prove is when the picture was actually taken.

[edit on 16-8-2010 by Come Clean]

Texas huh? I used to drive 10 hours one weekend per month to visit Galveston Beach. It was the closest beach to Missouri. I once rented a house on Tiki Island for a summer.

No wonder you don't understand what Florida Beaches typically look like. Do not use your Texas Beach experience as an example to compare this area to. Not even Corpus Christi comes anywhere close.

If you would like to come see for yourself, I have a spare room! If you can get here, I will take you to the beach myself. No kidding. All you have to do is get here.

Can I come? LOL, I need as much beach time as I can get... Just sitting in the sand with a drink in my hand is what I'm talking about!

Originally posted by getreadyalready

Originally posted by Come Clean
At the very least, the OP is not being honest when he claims before the oil spill he could see 20 feet down in crystal clear water.

It's just not honest.

How is that not honest?

I have often snorkeled in 40-50 feet of water directly off shore and had a clear view of the bottom! I scuba dived in Panama City with visibility straight down of probably 90 feet!

Have you ever visited the Panhandle of Florida?

My favorite spot is the Okaloosa Island Bridge in Ft. Walton Beach. As you cross that bridge you can see water in 3 different directions. It glows Emerald Green, the Sand looks like Snow, you can't look directly at it without sunglasses! This particular stretch of beach is nicer than anything I have ever experienced in the World! Better than South Beach, Hawaii, Cozumel, Cancun, Jamaica, or Bahamas, and I have been to all the above plus a few!

Not off of Alligator Point and Bald Point you haven't done that sort of snorkeling. There is far too much runoff from the marshes, rivers, streams, etc. for the waters there to be THAT clear. Quit moving the goal posts around already with your story. The beaches over in Ft. Walton and Panama City are NOTHING like the beaches you showed in your videos of Alligator Point and Bald Point. There has been a substantial amount of mud content to the beach and water every time we have been there. Which is why we stopped going to them years ago.

And yes, we have been in this area for 19 years now.

I seriously believe the Gulf is screwed with the oil, but please don't weaken that sort of claim by making bogus claims about the conditions of beaches that were NEVER pristine looking.

Originally posted by IgnoranceIsntBlisss
reply to post by patriot jim

 

Don't shoot yourself:
Only 120,000 barrels of 'oil' hit the Gulf? (what crude oil actually is)


reply to post by getreadyalready

 

Did you actually find carcasses in the conch shells? Shells wash up constantly, and if there aren't scores of people there to collect them then they will accumulate.

From what I could see, nearly all of them were hermit crabs, so they CRAWLED out of the water, and later on will crawl back INTO the water. They are extremely common. Look closely at the videos and you can see the tracks that the legs of the crabs made in the sand. If the OP had actually been going to those beaches all of that time he would KNOW they were hermit crabs.

reply to post by Rich Z


I don't know how it looks in the video, but in person, there were only about 10 of the shells that had tracks to the water, out of literally hundreds of shells. Now my sons and I did pick up a lot of shells, and about half of them did have Hermit crabs, but there were also a significant number that still had rotting conch in them.

As far as me snorkeling off of this beach, yes I have. Many times. I have also snorkeled and scuba dived along the St. Marks River mouth and inlets. If you and your wife stopped frequenting these beaches, then how can you know how they look? I don't dispute that Destin is by far the best looking beach and water, with Pensacola, FWB, and Panama City closely behind it. And yes, St. George, Alligator Point, and Bald Point are a little less pristine, but that doesn't change the water quality or clarity. The only real difference is the seaweed and wave action.

If you live in Crawfordville, then you watch WCTV I am sure, and you must have seen their reporting the last two nights regarding the "mousse-like" substance in the water at Alligator Point? And the tar balls washing up on St. George? That is 100% proof that what I saw, recorded, and presented here is accurate. I was a day ahead of the local news, but in no way did I fabricate or exaggerate.

I will be going down there this Saturday afternoon. I will be driving through Crawfordville to get there. I would love to meet you for some lunch and go to the beach together if you would like? U2U me if you are interested.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by justadood

 

I think we have covered this several times, in several threads already. I think Corexit is no more toxic than the oil itself. I have worked with far worse than Corexit.

There is nothing benign about the whole situation, but Corexit is not the thing to worry about, the whole oil situation is the thing to worry about.

As I have said to you, and in this thread, I "was" a fan of the dispersant idea. It did buy the beaches some time. It did buy some time to get booms in place. It "seemed" to be working for awhile.

After what I saw yesterday, I have admitted that my opinion was wrong. Dispersing the oil did not sink it to the bottom as hoped, instead it just thinned it and spread it equally through the seawater. For the present time, this is a very bad thing. Only time will tell if it is a bad thing overall. Maybe it will disperse so thinly that it spreads through the Earths oceans and Mother Nature will eat it up in a short time? I hope! BUT, maybe it will get into the Earth's food chain and affect every single one of us for many years? I hope not! Still, the oil is the problem, not the Corexit. Maybe the whole idea to disperse it was a problem as well, time will tell.

I don't know how many more ways I can tell you that I admit that dispersing the oil is looking like it was a mistake?

And yes, my opinion has changed now that it has affected me personally. I am human. It was sad and worrisome when it was miles away, but it is a whole lot moreso when it is at my back door!

Well, I still STRONGLY disagree, as do a lot of marine biologists, it would appear. The corexit is the problem. The crude is 'natural' and will break down FAR faster of the beach than in the Gulf.

I think you are merely concerned because you have to look at it now. Personally, any beach that has homes built on it is already defiled, IMO.