Gulf coast people...what are things like now?

[Spy Car]

It seems we have moved from non-stop coverage of oil spilling into the Gulf, to the point where the aftermath of the spill has largely vanished from our attention.

 

So I wonder what those living on the Gulf coast are seeing? Are things normalizing? Are people fishing and eating Gulf seafood? Is the evidence of an oil spill gone, or is it all too apparent?

 

I'm feeling quite ignorant about what conditions are like at this point and hope you Gulf residents will give us a picture of what life is like now.

 

Thank you!

 

Bill

[Starr]

This is a great question. Today I have heard/read two opposite articles about the coast. One was how things aren't going well and the other how much less damage these is than expected and how it's recovering. Go figure.

[Michelle in AL]

Things seem to be back to normal. There is shrimping and fishing. I don't think there are any restrictions on fishing anymore. It does scare me to eat it though and have just started eating shrimp again about once/week. There was a ton of dispersant dumped in the gulf and I don't know if anyone knows how that will affect seafood or even if they're testing the food for it. I did look up the half life of the chemical and it is long gone by now, but who knows if there's any risk still.

 

We had a run of dead baby and young dolphins a while back, but haven't heard anything further about that.

 

The beaches are beautiful again, but the sand has a very different texture. It's as if someone mixed baby oil in the sand. It looks the same but is very difficult to walk in.

 

Thanks for asking!

[Spy Car]

Things seem to be back to normal. There is shrimping and fishing. I don't think there are any restrictions on fishing anymore. It does scare me to eat it though and have just started eating shrimp again about once/week. There was a ton of dispersant dumped in the gulf and I don't know if anyone knows how that will affect seafood or even if they're testing the food for it. I did look up the half life of the chemical and it is long gone by now, but who knows if there's any risk still.

 

We had a run of dead baby and young dolphins a while back, but haven't heard anything further about that.

 

The beaches are beautiful again, but the sand has a very different texture. It's as if someone mixed baby oil in the sand. It looks the same but is very difficult to walk in.

 

Thanks for asking!

 

Thank you for answering. It has been on my mind for some time.

 

Bill

[micheller1]

I'm in southeast Louisiana. Our seafood industry seems to be picking back up. Local shrimpers say they look "real nice" :) We had a big seafood fest in the French Market this past week to encourage the purchase of fresh, local seafood, with lots of cooking exhibitions and tastings :).

I believe there are some areas where the oil is still visible in the marshes. I'm not really sure but there was a recent news report about a team that found some oil in some remote marshes. It's so sad that the restoration of precious wetlands didn't seem to be a concern to the federal government until this disaster occurred.

My husband owns an oil/gas multi-service dock in Port Fourchon and work is starting to pick up with the issuing of drilling permits but it has been a long, hard road. Times have been tough and the economy has suffered. Greatly. We have laid off many, many, many people. It has been a trying, sad time for us all.

Thanks for thinking of us, Bill.