05/15/2010 - Bayou la Batre

Launch: Bayou la Batre Public Launch
Destination: Bayou La Batre

Header Image

1) Decided to kayak here today to see if anything has changed in two weeks because crews have supposedly been feverishly cleaning the coastlines of debris. They forgot about the Bayou la Batre area. Dozens of oil crisis workers getting off the boom placement boats walked right past here.

2) West side of Bayou la Batre near the entrance.

3) Why are we wanting to protect this waterway if it is a dump for trash and petroleum products?

4) More shoreline trash.

5) The smell of petroleum was strong in Bayou la Batre today but it wasn't from BP's accident. Surely this can't be good for wildlife.

6) I reported the petroleum spill to the nearby Marine Police and the Coast Guard. They thanked me for reporting it but I didn't see any response. People get hefty fines levied on them for dumping sediment (dirt) into streams, so surely there should be consequences to people dumping fuel into our water, wouldn't you think? I'm perplexed that four times in a row I paddled this waterway and each time it involved going through a petroleum spill.

7) Are they putting booms off Bayou la Batre point to protect the sensitive areas from the Gulf Oil Spill or from the petroleum ladened waters of Bayou la Batre?

8) You can't paddle to Coffee Island unless you know where the oil boom gate is and it was no where in sight.

9) It is nice to see there are some birds in this area even though it is sad they have to search through the trash for their food.

10) Dead sea turtle seen on the way back from Coffee Island most likely related to the oil spill. Since we aren't allowed to touch dead wildlife, I left it there.