What we have done? More importantly, what are we going to do?

[kambriel]

The terrifyingly heartbreaking images of Gulf coast shore birds are starting to surface:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

This kind of suffering isn't going to stop anytime soon as the oil continues to gush every minute of the day and night. Even if/when they do get the source of the leak under control, what's already been put forth will leave a legacy we'll be dealing with ~ and more importantly, the animals of the affected areas will be dealing with ~ for many years to come.



For weeks now, I've helplessly wished I could tell the birds, the fish ~ all the wildlife in the area to swim, crawl, fly and get out of the way... to ~please~ not take a drink or a swim or a dive in that oily/sheen covered area. To try not to ingest any of those dispersed bits floating amidst the depths of the waves through their fragile gills. But for all of Nature's wisdom, we simply don't have the capability to "tell" them and give them that kind of potentially life saving warning. They're simply left to their own devices, and when faced with something they've likely never had any experience dealing with before, well... this simply isn't something that they tend to get to get a second chance to learn from once wings are coated and beaks are filled.



I remember when "spills" (though this isn't so much a finite spill as much as a continuous, ongoing gush) happened in the past and birds needed help, volunteers rose to the occasion. Like when the penguins had to have oil cleaned off of them, but that stripped their natural protective coating such that it no longer properly insulated them, so volunteers around the world made and donated miniature handknit wool sweaters en masse for them to wear in the interim, and it saved lives. Why has there been no such "call to action" yet with this disaster? Are volunteers being kept away because of toxicity levels? Does this have anything to do with the massive amounts of chemical dispersants which are being used? Is it tied in to stories of the hearty fishermen in the area who were hired for official clean-up purposes that we are now hearing of apparently falling ill with breathing difficulties, chronic coughs, nausea, etc... (from the oil, or again, perhaps the unprecedented amount of dispersants)?



Is there a reason we don't have a massive volunteer effort underway? Do we just passively wait for this to "be handled"? Because I believe if we were welcomed/allowed/called forth to do what we could, we as a people would. It's just so hard to sit back and "let" a tragedy happen, and know that lives are being and will continue to be lost, before our very eyes.



Updated post here w/info on how to help: https://kambriel.dreamwidth.org/229377.html

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

It just breaks my heart - and it's terrifying at the same time.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

We knew it was coming, it's just a tragedy that they didn't :/

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nightflower_/]

That is absolutely gut-wrenching :((

I'm amazed that nothing has happened...as you said, normally volunteers are all over this kind of thing when it happens.

Perhaps people who are too far from the spill site to physically contribute could direct their energies toward remotely healing those affected by this tragedy (the earth, the animals, the people)...?

I'm starting to think the Mayans had it right...

Think globally while acting locally

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Perhaps people who are too far from the spill site to physically contribute could direct their energies toward remotely healing those affected by this tragedy (the earth, the animals, the people)...?

As I believe that energy ultimately does turn into action, I think it can certainly be a place to start. Even from a distance, there are things we can do to help though ~ buying/using less plastic items, carpooling, not wasting water, conserving energy usage, supporting local organic farms, etc... reduce, re-use, recycle.

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

I wonder if, after all the horrors of the past decade, as a society we've become inured to this kind of horror. I'm shocked at the lack of outrage.

Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (http://www.crcl.org/), the Audubon Society (http://louisianacoast.audubon.org/), WaterKeepers Alliance (http://saveourgulf.org/), GreenPeace (http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenpeaceusa_blog/2010/05/12/volunteer_info_for_gulf_oil_spill), and Louisiana Bucket Brigade (http://www.labucketbrigade.org/article.php?list=type&type=181) all link to ways to volunteer and/or donate to the relief efforts.

More ways to help (http://gulfoilspill.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978226357) and some more ways (http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/).

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for adding these links.

I wonder if, after all the horrors of the past decade, as a society we've become inured to this kind of horror.

True nightmares would come to pass if that ever actually becomes the case. Unfortunately, sometimes you do have to hit "rock bottom" before a clear wake up signal occurs. Then again, sometimes one isn't lucky enough to survive that process...

I think the outrage is there. Unfortunately, some of the outrage is being grossly misplaced and manipulated for attempted political gain. For others, the outrage is an energy in dire need of constructive direction.

All I know is that with as long as other plants and animals have survived on this planet, compared to the tiny fraction of time that humans have been here, we humans seem to be on the path to wearing out our welcome and leaving a real mess of the place disturbingly fast.

[donnaricci.livejournal.com]

I have donated, and will continue to, but I can't help but to ask myself why I'm paying for this.

Hear me out, I'm not insensitive, I donate to ALOT of animal charities and have gone vegetarian for them. I absolutely will take my fair share and then some of the pain my previous decisions have caused and I fight against such things now but for there to even be a NEED to ask for donations appalls me. They have the money to "fix" this. They have enough to fund this cleanup effort. Why are we even being asked?

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you. BP certainly has the funds, but they don't want to use them because it would interfere with their profits. (I died a little just typing out that sentence.) Right now it looks like their "cleanup efforts" are designed to look good on camera without being effective in actually cleaning up the ecological catastrophe they've caused.

This entire state of affairs is so incredibly broken, as summed up by that quote down-thread from the UW professor who states that washing the oil off birds isn't "cost effective" because so many of them die anyway. Really? There is a price now on pain? We're supposed to decide it's okay to stand by and let innocent creatures suffer terribly because it's cheaper? So right now it comes down to people like us, because the ones who caused this and the ones in power aren't stepping up. You're completely right--it's completely appalling that there is a need for money and volunteers. I don't have a great deal of faith that BP with ever be held financially and/or legally responsible.

[nicosian.livejournal.com]

those pictures make me weep for the oceans.

Because I still hear people saying "we can't give up our cars! we can't find alternate energy! we can't put gas and OIL out of business!" And hordes of BP apologists, as if oopsie really cuts it.

And part of me if I were in the area would be highly hesitant to volunteer time to clean up a corporate mess, created by a corporation that cut corners and through negligence on an epic scale, has done this.

And hearing tales of them not giving people proper safety gear and such...I sometimes think now, it simply doesn't matter. It won't really matter till the oceans are completely anoxic and the oil's gone.

I have a huge interest in oceanography and conservation, but I don't see BP doing much more than lip service to clean affected shores, and i wonder if there's any need to finish my degree since it seems no one will worry till a day at the beach requires a haz mat suit for baby.

I've become very cynical that people will actually learn from this, certainly the oil industry doesn't seem to give a toss now, if they ever did before.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

we can't put gas and OIL out of business!

That's the thing, when people say we can't put X out of business, they're neglecting to remember that X can be replaced by Z ~ that jobs can still exist, and ideally exist in a way that's better for -all- of us.

And part of me if I were in the area would be highly hesitant to volunteer time to clean up a corporate mess

I definitely feel where you're coming from, but of course those shorebirds don't know that they're being suffocated in oil that came from a giant corporation's "oopsie", they just know they can't get themselves clean, they can't fly, or catch a breath... It's for ~them~ (which by proxy is also us), and for the health of the land and water itself, not the corporation.

Please do hang in there and finish that degree. I know the first instinct can be to get so discouraged that you throw your hands up in the air and want to walk away from it all, but if anything, tragedies such as this will make the skills you're learning all the more important, and all the more necessary.

Big $ may not care, big $ may never care about anything beyond the bottom line and the creature comforts of their own generation, but there has to be a counterbalance and you can be part of that.

[nicosian.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. My finishing that degree is somewhat of a complication at the moment,beyond just academic burnout and frustration.

I think I'm disillusioned by the overfishing, where people don't seem to GET that we can't strip the oceans, and the dumping, like the former city I lived in that poured all its raw sewage into the harbor because a processing plant was built and failed almost immediately, and hey, they've dumped sewage for years so what's the harm? and now this.

BP should be paying those people who are down there to clean up.

And industry can adapt. I honestly think BP and the others need to be fined heavily, painfully and it should be required that they fund in equal portion to the costs of cleanup and fines, the research into clean alternative energy. Make them walk the damn plank finally.

I will always be involved in ocean conservancy but momentarily, I think I've just lost hope. This doesn't seem to have woken many people from the delusion that oil is a perpetual, abundant, and entitlement resource.

Some of the cleanup isn't great. Exxon, the hot water high pressure washing of the beaches stripped microfauna, dispersants don't work, they just disperse, they've apparently not done the booms correctly, using biological agents causes algal bloom and in turn, anoxic ocean patches.

Canada's no better. we have destroyed a huge swath of northern alberta and the fauna there, with the oilsands.

And yet I hear people going "don't boycott BP! it'll only hurt the mom and pop gas stations." ( oh I should buy an SUV then, by that logic.)

But we're looking at a move to the netherlands, because I don't want to work in canada's fisheries and oceans dept ( they stopped listening to conservancy issues in the 70s) and I don't want to work for the military, where most of the oceanography work is now in the US it seems.

I kind of think north america is right hosed. there's 4000 platforms in the gulf and somehow that's not enough.

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

These pics are heartbreaking.

I recently read in the paper that they learned from the Alaska spill that cleaning up wildlife didn't really work well. The animals were too stressed out and few survived after being released.

Googling, I got this from
http://news.discovery.com/animals/oil-spill-wildlife-clean-up-process.html

Dee Boersma, an authority on seabirds and a professor of conservation science at the University of Washington, told Discovery News that wildlife rescue efforts after oil spills are "not cost effective and the animals usually die" shortly after release anyway, due to lasting damage caused by ingestion of oil and other problems.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I've thought about the ingestion too and how that would likely be a ticking time bomb, even if their feathers could be fully cleaned, but these words, "not cost effective", those words break my heart and are deeply disturbing. Much like I feel we can never truly "own" land or water, or air (I feel it's there for us to use and dwell upon and seek sustenance from, and ideally, be good stewards of, but at most we can only convince others that this parcel or that is "legally ours" even though ultimately it will always belong to the Earth itself and no one individual), I also believe there is no price tag on the value of a life. Perhaps some can agree on putting a value of $'s on a life (ironically, usually a life that is not their own), but truly, our inherent value goes far beyond dollars and cents.

Even if it seemed a futile effort, or that "most" would die, I'd still want to do my best to try. It's like doing CPR on a loved one ~ you want to go that extra minute just in case a miracle might happen and they could have a second chance.

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

"Cost effective" in this case does not necessarily mean that a monetary value is being placed on the animal's existence and it isn't worth enough. It can mean that using finite resources (because pretty much every conservation and rescue organization is constantly, unendingly short on funding) in circumstances where most of the animals are unlikely to survive can drain those resources from projects where the success/survival rate will be higher. It's still a pretty ugly equation where money is the most significant factor, but it's also, sadly, a realistic one where people are trying to find the best way to save the most animals.

I have yet to meet anyone involved in conservation or rescue who doesn't care deeply about the animals they're working with (for better or worse, in some cases, but anyway). But I also have yet to meet a successful person in conservation or rescue who isn't keenly aware that they have to fight for every penny of funding they get from other humans, however much they hate it, and that they often have to make ugly, painful choices about how to deploy the resources they do manage to get. Until we can get the majority of humanity to truly care, understand, and be involved in the importance of preserving wildlife, this ugly, painful situation is going to exist, and all we can do is teach and give resources where we're capable.

I actually see one tiny but truly golden opportunity out of all of this: the devastation of the Gulf coast fisheries is going to be one of the best "teachable moments" we've ever had about the importance of an ecosystem as a whole and why it's critical that we protect and maintain those ecosystems. Humans still operate primarily on a self-serving basis; this is an immediate and highly visible threat to human self-interest, and if we handle it right, we could genuinely make a change in how people think about the way we use natural resources. (I am not especially optimistic that we'll handle it right, but the chance is there.)

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

So very well said. Thank you! Trained, competent rescuers are in short supply, alas.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

But if even ONE survives, then the cost is definately worth it.

[doomjunkie.livejournal.com]

I am truly disgusted at the lack of dexterity of their ROVs. I sat and watched some of the work being done down there.
If they can not even be prepared for disasters like this or have the technology to deal with it, then the should be put completely out of business.

Several individuals came up with safer way to clean up the surface and no one has even considered these techniques. Instead they chose to use chemical dispersant.
BP needs to be shut down or banned from working on land or water in this country.

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

Have you seen this video about how BP is failing the Fail of a Thousand Fails in their so-called "cleanup efforts"? (There is a lot of profanity in the video, so it's NSFW, but it does make some very valid points.)

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Several individuals came up with safer way to clean up the surface and no one has even considered these techniques. Instead they chose to use chemical dispersant.


Last I heard, BP had turned down offers of help. Matter of Trust has thousands of hair booms just waiting for BP to say, yes, we want them. As of the last thing I heard, they had turned them down. Sure they asked about them, but that was it.

[frozenrapidash.livejournal.com]

People are not volunteering because they're waiting for others to take care of it.
No matter how much Obama and his administration says so, they have NO intention of helping. (Obama DENIED HELP from 15 countries)
BP is doing everything they can.(The government must approve every move they make before they make it, and government is taking their sweet time.) This would have been fixed by now if BP had been allowed to drill on land.
But "environmentalists" are calling the shots, not the government.
On land, it is easy to stop oil flow, miles under the ocean, it is not.
But environmentalists won't have it. They wanted it away from the trees and land life.
See what happened?

Boycotting BP won't fix it. Waiting for the government won't fix it. Wasting money in funding for other energy sources won't fix it.
People need to stop whining in front of their televisions and DO SOMETHING.
But that's not America's culture. We expect others to fix our problems.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I question trying to put this off on environmentalists, or using the government as an easy scapegoat when it was ultimately a massive for-profit corporation at whose hands this disaster happened. Of course we have every right to speak up when we think things should and could be handled better, but we must remember how it *actually* began.

Being an "environmentalist" is inherently a good thing. It benefits everyone if the world we live in is well taken care of. Our own health is directly connected to the health of the air/land/water that surrounds us since we literally ingest it into our own bodies every day of our lives.

Environmentalists aren't saying, "hey, let's do underwater drilling". The overwhelming preference is to focus on *alternative* fuel sources that are naturally renewable and able to be fully obtained here at home (wind, solar, etc...) instead of using something of finite supply that we have to go to such lengths to get at to begin with (whether that be far beneath the Earth's surface ~ either on land or underwater, or in the territories of foreign nations).

As cynical as I can be, ultimately I believe Americans *do* rise to the challenges that we are confronted with. I think for every person who is willing to sit back and complain passively, or try to blame those on "the other side", there is another who is willing to take their own time, money, and effort to actually do something when called on to help. Personally, I don't believe we should ever fully rely on government to take care of every problem that comes our way. Ultimately, *we* are our country, officials are simply there to represent *us*, and it's up to us to make it what we want it to be by helping each other (much like how people as individuals, not some inept government agency, opened their homes to the people of New Orleans after they had to evacuate post-Katrina) and by doing what we can, when we can.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

BP has turned down offers of help. They have instead concentrated on trying to block photos from reaching the general public and stop journalists from seeing and reporting what's happening to our beaches- not that it's been effective.

So don't blame Obama entirely for what BP has done.

[donnaricci.livejournal.com]

you are far more eloquent than I am, could I please repost this? It speaks my sentiments far better than I.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

You're more than welcome to, though I'm the first to admit I was finding myself more speechless than eloquent and don't think there are any words that can truly do the many facets of this situation justice.

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

Y!Green & our partners have been writing about this since it started. Here's a list (http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/279/how-to-help-wildlife-threatened-by-the-oil-spill.html) of respected organizations in the Gulf areas helping wildlife. People can donate or volunteer.

Tonight or tomorrow, the oil will probably hit Pensacola Beach, FLA -- the 'world's whitest beaches' where I played as a little kid. Utterly devastating.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

According to a comment here: http://www.cheriepriest.com/2010/06/03/oil/comment-page-1/ The oil has already started coming ashore in Pensacola...

Thank you so much for that link, it's helpful for people to know where we can put our energies forth in both productive and constructive ways.

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

Gawd, I knew it was just a matter of hours for Pensacola :-(

[alonewiththemoon]

There was an article in today's Globe about the animal rescuing--it sounds like huge numbers aren't being affected yet, or at least aren't being found yet. They are still bracing for the worst yet to come. The bit about it being hard to find the turtles in the muck gets me.

It's ironic that we had so many sea turtle strandings this fall--what seemed like a disaster at the time has probably saved those turtles' lives, as they were still in rehab centers up north rather than the area of the oil spill, where they would usually be.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The turtles were some of the first wildlife I thought of when this initially began. How awful to hear of them being found with that thick oily "mousse" filling their mouths.

Thank you for the link to this article ~ it spurred me on to do some more researching and send some emails to some of the people featured within it.

I'm grateful to hear of the sea turtles in the rehab centers up there. Serendipitous. Of course it's tragic to think of them being safer in manmade shelters than out in the wild where they were always meant to be, but whatever works for now, right?