WEEP FOR RACCOON ISLAND

This Royal Tern was rescued, after we discovered it and alerted officials. It was so weak, and from its ordeal that I seriously doubt that it survived. Photo by Drew Wheelan



The picture on the left shows Drew Wheelan, the conservation coordinator for the American Birding Association, who writes at The Gulf Coast Oil Spill blog, which is managed by the American Birding Association.

Drew writes about Raccoon Island:

I continue to be baffled by the decisions being made by the response effort as it concerns wildlife. A most distressing situation that illustrates just how ineffective and poorly managed the response has been is that of the multi-species nesting colony on Raccoon Island. Known to many locals as Last Island, this 5 km. long island in the Isles Deniers chain in Terrebonne Bay contains one of the largest populations of nesting seabirds in the state of Louisiana, including thousands of Brown Pelicans, Louisiana's State Bird. One would assume that being such an important resource for local wildlife that it would be indentified as en extreme priority for protection and monitoring.
....

Raccoon Island, one of the most densely populated islands with birds in the entire state was left with one layer of deflective inner harbor type boom, which was completely useless against the waves and the wind from a storm in early July. As of last Friday, day 94, this boom was still piled high up on the beach, having been washed ashore with the same oil that drenched a large number of birds, an event that was brought to light by Cornell University biologists studying the colony. Had Tropical Storm Bonnie been stronger and hit Louisiana’s coast, Raccoon Island would have been utterly defenseless against the likely incursion of crude that would have been brought in with the waves as it lacked any boom at all. It makes no sense that this island was not identified as a higher priority, and now we are seeing massive effects which have been documented by New Orleans photographer Jerry Moran on his website.
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From my journal, July 22, 2010, Day 93

"Yesterday I saw huge tracts of marshland in Barataria Bay with the thickest oil I have seen yet, and no clean up effort underway. We also saw a ribbon of fresh oil flowing into the marshlands, ten miles inside the bay. The wide swath of oil was over a mile long and so noxious that my throat still burns from the fumes. A small boat was present, but no skimmers were working to contain the oil, though we had passed many such boats, anchored in the bay before we found this oil. It is quite frankly, absolutely infuriating to hear the claims by BP that they are working to clean the Gulf. The efforts here are little more than a disorganized circus, and the fact that many birds are experiencing a respite from direct heavy oiling owes itself to nothing more than the weather, and the toxic dispersants having kept the Louisiana Crude from the shores. (My emphasis)

Drew's entire post is well worth reading, after which you will weep. I've had the link to Drew's post for several days, thanks to my friend Georgianne Nienaber at The Huffington Post, who has done her part in trying to tell the story of the perilous state of wildlife in the Gulf and on the coastline, but, in truth, I couldn't bear to write, because my heart was broken after reading it, which I realize makes me one sorry-assed reporter. All Drew's information is so very disheartening, especially in light of the dumbass statement by Thad Allen, retired head of the US Coast Guard, the present director of the federal government's response team.

Even though the leak stopped, oil likely will continue to hit the coastline and barrier islands for the next four to six weeks, Allen said.

Excuse my language about Allen's statement, but I couldn't help myself. As I said in my post:

"...for the next four to six weeks"! And that will be the end of the oil? To read those words spoken by the person in charge, a Coast Guardsman, at that, is chilling.