Alabama Coast
I visited several areas today around Gulf Shores on the south side of Mobile Bay. As was to be expected after seeing the oil really roll in last night there were a few heavily oiled birds in the area. One thing that was particularly disturbing to find were a number of oiled Snowy Plovers. Snowy Plovers are a candidate for listing under the endangered species act. Their numbers are already in jeopardy due to coastal development in their preferred habitat – basically undisturbed beaches and coastal dunes just beyond the high-tide/storm surge line. I’m afraid of what the months ahead hold in store for these shorebirds and the thousands of northern migrants that will use these beaches during migration and winter.
Oiled Snowy Plover trying desperately to preen.
Oiled Snowy Plover - Not all of the oil shows up as brown. This birds feathers were basically all stuck together by a sticky film of oil giving it a disheveled look.
An oiled Laughing Gull standing beside a clean adult.
This oiled Laughing Gull attempted to fly on several occasions with little success.
An early morning cleanup crew driving down the beach. Crews are literally just hauling the worst looking sand away.
Sea turtle nest on Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Crews are marking nests to protect them from oil spill responders and actually moving some nests farther up on the beach to protect them from the oil seeping into the shoreline
Natural gas well and a shrimp boat turned skimmer in Mobile Bay
These Brown Pelicans in Mobile Bay looked relatively unaffected by oil thus far.