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Oh, the Humanity! Part II – Invasion of the Tarballs

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  May 10th, 2010 at 05:20 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Uh, there have been six so far, each about the size of a golf ball.

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — A Coast Guard official says tar balls that are believed to be from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are washing up on Dauphin Island.

Coast Guard chief warrant officer Adam Wine said about a half-dozen tar balls had been collected by this afternoon on the island. He said the substance needs to be tested, but officials think it came from the oil spill.

[Source.]

Shocking pictures below the fold!

DAUPHIN ISLAND - Representatives of the Federal government, the state of Alabama, and BP survey the beaches of Dauphin Island to identify any tar balls that may have washed ashore. Tar balls have been sighted on Alabama's beaches and may be a result of the oil leaked when the Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deepwater oil rig, sank April 22, causing a massive oil spill near the U.S. Gulf Coast.

DAUPHIN ISLAND - Representatives of the Federal government, the state of Alabama, and BP survey the beaches of Dauphin Island to identify any tar balls that may have washed ashore. Tar balls have been sighted on Alabama's beaches and may be a result of the oil leaked when the Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deepwater oil rig, sank April 22, causing a massive oil spill near the U.S. Gulf Coast.


Members of the Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique team walk past some of the local wildlife as they conduct assessments and surveys along the beach at Dauphin Island to search for any oil washing ashore, May 9, 2010 from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Members of the Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique team walk past some of the local wildlife as they conduct assessments and surveys along the beach at Dauphin Island to search for any oil washing ashore, May 9, 2010 from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

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  • earlgrey

    I am just joking, but it looks really nice. Cute bird, but I thought it was supposed to be black.

    • Raven

      Just because the bird is supposed to be covered in tar, you automatically assume it should be black! How horrid of you!

      • earlgrey

        To be honest, I think I am more offended by blonde jokes than accusations of racism these days.

        • Raven

          …She thinks birds that are covered in tar should be black.

          Just thought I’d add a “Yo’ Momma” to the mix…

  • http://thesandsinstitute.org Vassar Bushmills

    Cheers

  • Jack_Savage

    Seriously?

    And if one friggin’ drop washes up on St. George Island I am going to go nuts. I am not kidding. I would say that I am in direct opposition to most here regarding this spill.

    • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

      Some of it will work its way into the water column where it will break down or be processed by bacteria that live of the natural seeps.

      BP is adding dispersants, too. Think of cleaning greasy dishes in your sink, then you add Dawn detergent. It breaks up & dispersed the grease/oil.

      This is considerably lighter oil, and source much farther offshore than the Exxon Valdez.

      • Jack_Savage

        200K barrels a day and no end in sight is making it awful tough to be supportive right now.

        • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

          …you have potential as a professional journalist!

          All I ask is a rational, not an emotional response. Right now, MMS is issuing no new drilling permits until the report to the Pres May 28.

          I could understand a suspension for drilling requiring subsea trees. A ban on all new drilling permits is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

          • Jack_Savage

            Thanks for the correction.

            I love you brother, but as far as the rational response…I’ll have to get back with you on that. Like I said, when the first drop of oil screws up the fishing / oystering in Appalachicola or gets on the beaches at St. George Island, I am off the reservation. If it invades the flats in Tampa Bay and starts killing tarpon, permit and bonefish, I am registering as a Green. So help me God.

            Let me give you a hypothetical conversation with BP, with me as President.

            President Savage: “So you guys want to drill in the Gulf? You know I have vacationed there for twenty-five years, right?”

            BP: “Right.”

            POTUS: “So let’s say – worst case – the rig catches on fire, collapses and sinks to the bottom of the ocean – can you guys shut the well off?”

            BP: “Absolutely.”

            POTUS: “Drill baby, drill!”

            [snip]

            POTUS: “Hey guys , it’s me. What the hell happened? Can you shut the thing off?”

            BP: “Ummmm…not really.”

            POTUS: “Any ideas? Anything?”

            BP: “Ummmm…none that look real promising. We can drill sideways and cap the thing by the time the kids get back to school, though.”

            POTUS: “Hmmmm…you realize you just crapped in the bed – right?”

            BP: “Yep.”

            POTUS: “Ok, no problem. Just in case anyone asks, no more new permits, and every well within 500 miles of the U.S. is now shut down until they all can be retrofitted with whatever in the hell won’t fail next time. If they get pissed at me, I’m giving them your number. And if I go to Destin this summer, and get any oil on my Tevas while I am on the beach drinking beer and waiting for my reservation to get called at the Back Porch restaurant, that’ll add a billion dollars to the fine. And if my mother in law on Captiva calls me about the bad smell, that’s another billion. Got it?”

            BP: (silence)

          • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

            …but their technology & that which my company uses have almost nothing in common.

            Mine isn’t pretty or flashy but it has worked for 40 years.

          • Jack_Savage

            I have been, for years, telling anyone who would listen how safe offshore drilling is and how we needed to drill everywhere we could find oil. This doesn’t make that argument look all that persuasive, and can actually be used as an argument against, say, nuclear power (“Well, you said offshore drilling was safe, didn’t you? Huh? Huh? SO now nuclear power is safe?”)

            I have little respect for people who can’t handle their business, and put their industry in peril. I have even less tolerance for those who could ruin – at least for a while – the most beautiful beaches and finest fishing I have ever seen.

          • Common_Cents

            Deep water drilling is riskier and more expensive, but they gotta drill with the limited areas left for them to drill. When safer shallower areas and on land drilling sites are roped off by govt nimbys what are drillers supposed to do? Shallower areas and land drilling are much safer and if something goes wrong it is easier to deal with. This was a govt created crisis. Where was the govt regulation requiring more prevention measures? I have read deep water rigs in other parts of the world have more safety requirements by govt.

          • Jack_Savage

            If BP can’t handle its business and deal with this spill, maybe they shouldn’t drill anywhere.

            Lefties often cause crises that they then take advantage of. We have to be twice as sharp in order not to let them.

          • baserunr

            you should help Jack out a bit by reminding him of the size of the largest oil spill in history, and where it occurred, And of course, what the current state of the area is today. Maybe that would relax him a bit.

            I know that after the oil spill off the California Coast in the late ’60′s, we were supposed to see impacts lasting generations. I’ve been there in the past, and things are remarkably vibrant. Why Al Gore even bought a nearby home with a view of the damage!

          • Jack_Savage

            Let me ask you this, though – how long would you like to have the way you make your living suspended, with the only chance of recouping your salary being through a class action lawsuit or at the pleasure of the government? Sure things will return to normal, but how long is acceptable?

            I’ve spent a lot of time in the area likely to be affected by the spill, and it ain’t clean, flat, desert land or some dead body of water. If it is affected adversely by this spill, I regard it as completely unacceptable. Period.

          • baserunr

            Car crashes can have the same impact (or worse) to one’s vocation, avocation, etc . Although both are unacceptable, the fact is that each happens. If we outlawed cars, there would be no more car crashes, but there would be other consequences as well. Outlawing off-shore drilling would put an end to rig explosions and discharges, but there would be other consequences here too. Although I don’t believe that this incident resulted from anything more than humanity being overmatched by Mother Nature, that does not excuse the liability. BP, it’s officers, stockholders, bondholders, subcontractors, etc., should be made to stand for the damages to the full extent of the law. But this is similar to capping a volcano. The only difference is that it was drilled into, and did not happen organically.

  • Tbone

    Hokey Pokey.

    • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir
      • Raven

        It Is in the South, after all.

      • Scope

        moon walk.

  • mjn1957

    The Redneck Riviera will never be the same….

    I’ve vacationed on Dauphin Island several times against my will…

    More oil washes ashore off the ample and oil-soaked pink torsos of the Common Alabama Wife Beater than could ever come ashore from any oil well.

    • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

      Go east, young man…

  • dannno

    ecological disaster. We can all agree that this accident does not mean we should stop drilling, but posting junk like this serves no purpose.

    • Leopard1996

      Because if we left the reportage of this up to the media, this would wind up being so overblown that the only conclusion that could be drawn is to stop our oil production. Things like this allow us to see the truth. I don’t believe the poster is belittling the situation, but he is helping a majority of us put it into prospective, since on other outlet seems to give a rats ass about truth.

    • mjn1957

      Rule #1: Never lose your sense of humor.

      Rule #2: Fight the problem, not each other.

      Rule #3: Keep your perspective and stay focused on a positive outcome.

      Oil in the water?, yes…’Ecological disaster’?, remains to be seen…Fear-mongering and political maneuvering?, things we are drowning in.

    • Raven

      You should check your dictionary. It has the Potential to be a disaster, but it isn’t. Not right now. And shouldn’t be one at all.

  • charlienosurf

    I’m conservative as they come…but this could potentially be a catastrophic disaster for our Gulf states that WILL cost taxpayers tons of money.

    Making light of the possible effects of this spill because many conservatives support offshore drilling (myself included) is in bad taste.

    • Raven

      But isn’t. And isn’t likely to be. A lot of info in these humourous diaries as to Why.

    • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

      The journalistic response. That’s what I’ve attempted to have some fun with here.

      I think my other diaries show how I feel about this incident and about its potential impact.

      Journalists are having a kitten, though, because to date the shore impact has really been minimal. The spill hasn’t fit the Exxon Valdez template.

      Exactly two birds have been oiled, rehabilitated, and relocated to Florida.

      A kill of endangered sea turtles was originally blamed on oil; turns out it was probably shrimpers who were at fault.

      The USCG had to order air traffic to stop landing on and flying low over the Chandeleur Islands, harassing the birds.

      Some dude in Boulder, CO wants to create a harmonic convergence & stop the oil flow by getting enough people to meditate. (Now, I don’t care who you are; that there is funny.)

      Now, hand wringing journalists are causing folks to cancel vacations at Dauphin Island and the Florida Coast; the Dauphin Island beach seemed as clean as normal, to me.

      People have been handwringing for days now about potential impact to Texas, the Florida Keys and the East Coast. As I pointed out in “Oil Spill Reality Check”, that’s nearly impossible.

      Look, I know enough about oil spills to understand that there’s plenty of potential for damage. But as long as Mother Nature cooperates, the spill stays offshore, and the dispersants and other man-made strategies work, it will delay and dampen any shore impact.

  • NeoKong

    They came first to scope out the beach.
    If it is safe then the other tar balls will arrive.

    • blooch

      lurking offshore, feeding on curious seagulls and dolphins.

  • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

    DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama – The Coast Guard is keeping a close watch on the waters off Dauphin Island keeping an eye out for oil.

    A Coast Guard vessel set sail shortly after 10:00 Sunday morning from the east side of Dauphin Island.

    As far as spotting any oil on previous trips, Joel Huffman with the Coast Guard said, “Basically, the only oil we’ve seen is in on the news. This boat is only allowed to go 40 miles offshore and that’s how far we’ve gone.”

    We headed to the west side of Dauphin Island. Offshore, the water was green. We even saw a dolphin rearing its head, but thus far no sign of oil.

    [Source.]

    • Richard Mullins

      and the oil never made it to Dauphin Island. It looks like it getting much smaller and there is some beached oil on some islands in Louisiana. The Envirowackos don’t have much to play with.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Only they would panic at the sight of a tarball.