GRAND ISLE - NOT QUITE ON THE BEACH

 

We got past the fencing to prevent the sand from eroding, but we were stopped at the next barricade, which was a good distance from the water.

 

The orange objects are tiger booms, which are filled with a combination of sand and water and are in place to prevent oil from going farther up on the beach.

Apparently, oily sand is shoveled into piles such as the one in the picture and is then picked up and hauled away to who knows where. We talked to a man who works in hazmat for a Texas company under contract to BP to work with those who are cleaning the beach. He told us that if we went past the barricade, where the beach was contaminated with oil and dispersant, police, the Army, and representatives of officialdom would converge on us, so we did not put his cautionary words to the test.

The rock jetty in the distance is man-made and is one of many along the beach at Grand Isle as a protection against erosion.

 

Grandpère walking back to the tent where the hazmat worker had his buggy parked, surrounded by a group of agitated terns, who must have been nesting nearby. The birds let us know in no uncertain terms that they wanted us gone from their territory. If you click on the picture for the large view, you can catch a glimpse of three terns.

Similar tents are placed at intervals along the beach to give respite from the sun to the clean-up workers.

 

The property next to where we parked to walk to the beach had not been mowed in quite some time and the result is a pretty array of wildflowers. Once again, click on the picture for the large view.

And, my readers, that is all I have for you in pictures of the beach at Grand Isle.

We stopped at the Starfish Restaurant and had very tasty lunch. GP had a bowl of gumbo and crawfish étoufée, and I had fried shrimp and French fries.

While we were in the restaurant, we talked to a Coast Guardsman and another man in a uniform of some sort. The story we got from them was pretty much, "It's not that bad". I asked the man from the Coast Guard what sort of work he did, and he said, "I'm in public relations." I asked the other uniformed guy if he had seen any dead birds or animals, and he said, "Oh, a couple of birds." I asked him how long he's been there, and he said two weeks.

Below is a picture of what we couldn't see and where we couldn't walk, presumably before the clean-up was underway and the the beach was blocked off. The red stuff is the dispersant. I suppose the beach needs cleaning every day. I didn't see skimming or any clean-up activity on the water while we were there.