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

First, let me apologize to all those members that I have criticized for putting down the Florida Beaches. I have been lobbying for our beaches since the start, and I have had many good trips to the beach. That ended today, and I am disgusted. I just finished an hour long shower for me and the kids.

Second, let me say that I have lived in this area for 10 years. I am familiar with the normal way the beach looks, the water looks, the wildlife reacts. I am familiar with the seasonal changes. I have ridden out storms, I know what Red Tide and storm damage looks like. I have swam at closed beaches, I have surfed in storm surges, etc., etc.

I am going to post 5 videos and some snap shots. The videos are revealing, but they don't compare to the real thing.

Normally.......Our beaches are sugary white. The quartz is unique to this area. It leaves the Appalachian Mountains and it is pinkish. It is sun bleached and it is so pure it squeeks when you walk on it. Of all the beaches I have experienced in Cancun, Cozumel, Jamaica, Hawaii, the West Coast, of all of the beaches, the Florida Panhandle is by far the prettiest. It has sugar white, squeeky sand, and beautiful emerald green water, visibility for snorkelers and scuba divers is typically almost 100 ft. There is no place better.

Today, we noticed something was......just off? The water was darker, the seaweed was worse, the beach was littered with Conch shells. The Horshoe crabs were aggressive. The fish were jumping a lot. But, we waded in anyway. At first we thought the seaweed had made the water darker. A tropical system passed through a few days ago, so it made sense. Once we were in the water, it felt different. It was slicker, and it burned some scrapes on my leg. Typically the seawater is soothing to skin. Today it was uncomfortable. Still we pushed on, hate to waste a good beach day, and we were looking forward to watching a sunset.

After some wading, we decided not to submerge and swim, it was just too dirty. We sat down on the beach and I dug down in the sand a little. To my surprise the hole filled with chocolate colored water? This has never happened before, no matter how much seaweed or silt is present. It NEVER penetrates the sand, and if you dig a hole you always get crystal clear water. Now I was getting very concerned!

My wife and I got up and looked more closely at the water, and we made our kids back away from it. Only now did we notice the suspended frothy brown color. We looked at each other and down the beach and we noticed a linear striation of color. The typical bright white sand was up on the dunes, but as we looked closer to the water, lines of darker and darker water marks were present. At the water line the sand was grey/black. I took my foot and dug down and the sand below the surface was brown and oily looking. The water that filled the hole, even many feet from the beach, the water that filled the hole was brown and cloudy!!

Now, the seaweed, dead conches, erratic fish behavior, and odd feeling seawater all made sense.

The dispersants are certainly working. The oil is thoroughly mixed into the sea water. It isn't washing up on the shore, instead it is embedding into the sand. The filter fish are feeling the effects the worst. The oyster beds and shell fish are dying off. The seaweed is dying. Sadly, people were fishing just down the beach from us!!

Here are the videos and I am still working on getting the snapshots up. Please feel free to ask questions. I am totally disheartened and upset at this moment. My wife was feeling depressed and we went to the beach to cheer up. That was a big mistake!

www.floridastateparks.org...

Here is a link to the site for the State Park that contains Bald Point. It is directly adjacent to Alligator Point which is about 20 miles South of Tallahassee, and 50 miles East of Panama City. This is very, very close to where Obama was supposedly swimming this past weekend.

Thanks friend, and sorry to hear it effected your vacation...
2nd

[edit on 8/17/10 by Ophiuchus 13]

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13
Thanks friend, and sorry to hear it effected your vacation...
2ns

Not really vacation, we only live 15 miles away, but today was a particularly tough day for my wife, so I took off work early and we went down to the beach, What a mistake. The beach was good less than 2 weeks ago, but it was sad today.

Wow, that’s not what you would expect to see from beaches when 75% of the oil has been recovered..

The area you were walking around looks like the sandbars on the Red River where I grew up.......Not the white sandy beaches you see in the postcards………

testtherain.com...

[edit on 17-8-2010 by Cloudsinthesky]

reply to post by getreadyalready


My friend, although this is awful to see, this kind of thread is the essence of ATS and what we members should aspire to bring to the table.

Not satisfied with simply copy/pasting some source, you have taken the time and effort and gone out and found out the truth for yourself, documented it for us to learn from, and acknowledged a change of your position in the process.

Thank you for doing all of the above ... much more respect than a mere star and flag could ever embody.


EF spelling syntax and multiple catastrophes.

[edit on 17 Aug 2010 by schrodingers dog]

reply to post by Cloudsinthesky


Yep Clouds. I have been an advocate of the dispersant this whole time. I know it has its own issues, but it seemed to be keeping the oil on the bottom and away from the beaches and marshes. Today I see first hand that it has taken the oil, broken it down to be almost undetectable, and spread it through the entire Gulf. Sure, it helps make the beaches look cleaner from the aerial shots. It would probably not be noticed by a novice to the beach, because they would take it as normal. But the oil is now impossible to recover, and impossible to avoid. It is in a fine suspension in the water. It is not floating on top or washing up as tar balls. It is just suspended and making for darker, cloudier water.

I have a degree in Chemistry, and I am a very experienced beach goer, and I allowed my kids to swim in it for probably 10-15 minutes before all the signs really sunk in and made sense. Had I not inadvertently dug a hole in the sand a few feet up the beach, I would have blamed all the darknes and dirtiness on the passing storm and the seaweed.

Well ,..I live in wisconsin and cannot appreciate your frustration,.
But I have empathy for the situation,..
I am sure this will only become worse as time progresses,
But it must be ok cause OBAMA says so cause he swam in the gulf

Thank you for letting us know how things really are and for the vids. I am sorry that you have been so disheatened by what you discovered today. I hope a lot of people visit your thread so they will know not to trust a first glance, it could keep people from becoming sick. I have read several posts today on illness in the gulf states, it saddens me deeply. I use to vacation often in Louisiana and lived in Florida for 10 years, my heart is there. Stay safe and well! Peace

Whoa...that water is awful for the gulf coast. You're right...the sand and the seaweed do not look normal either. We vacation in Cape San Blas every year and are scheduled to go in three weeks. Now I'm having doubts. Great videos, get. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's important.

Every one asked for real...I hope they are ready.
We all feel it.
sad.
Thanks for the time you put into letting us know.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
Whoa...that water is awful for the gulf coast. You're right...the sand and the seaweed do not look normal either. We vacation in Cape San Blas every year and are scheduled to go in three weeks. Now I'm having doubts. Great videos, get. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It's important.

www.visitgulf.com...

Cape San Blas is probably 30-40 miles from this beach. It is not very far. It was fine over there on my last visit, but of course this beach was fine on my last visit as well.

Don't cancel your vacation, but if things seem odd, then skip the swimming and head over to Seaside (filmed the Truman Show there). Seaside isn't far, and it has lots to do besides the beach. Apalchicola is a neat little town too, but it becomes boring after a day or so.

U2U me if you want any suggestions, or if you decide to visit Tallahassee while here.

What an impressive and important post!!!!

Thread title doesn't sell it.

This thread hopefully will make it to the top.

Nice job showing us first hand, the disaster that is starting to be forgotten.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I've been looking forward to seeing your videos since you mentioned them on another thread. It's sad that the beaches are so icky. The whole situation is just saddening.

It's refreshing to see a first person view into what is going on down there. Thank you for giving us a glimpse.

Originally posted by Cloudsinthesky
Wow, that’s not what you would expect to see from beaches when 75% of the oil has been recovered..

Not that i think the oil is 'gone', but 75% of 200,000+ gallons still leaves 50,000 plus gallons on the beaches and marshes.

reply to post by justadood


Your math is wrong.......I will let you figure it out

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to show us what really is happening in our waters.

My heart is broken once again and tears are falling on my cheeks.

Isn't it enough for the war machine to take our young men and women and allow their lives to be destroyed?

Now the evil greed of man is attacking the very essence of life. And I fear it will get much worse before it gets better.

We have no choice but to find alternative energy as speedily as possible.

May God help us all.

reply to post by getreadyalready

Thanks for the suggestions, and I will. We'll probably go anyway, just to help support the economy in our small way. Didn't mean to sound selfish either...this is far more upsetting for those who live there and rely on the gulf for their livelihood. And the health aspects are simply too horrible to think about...for humans as well as the wild life. Truly sad. Again, great job in bringing this forward.

Originally posted by Cloudsinthesky
reply to post by justadood

 

Your math is wrong.......I will let you figure it out

Nope.

Wanna try again?

25 percent of 200 is 50.

feel free to use a calculator.

And, again, I'm not saying I believe its gone.

So, care to comment on how the 'official' statement that 75-80% of the oil is dispersed into the sea means that there is none on the beaches and in the marshes?

[edit on 17-8-2010 by justadood]

reply to post by justadood


Your math is still wrong.........research what 75% represents