Oil in the Pass and ICW 6/10/10

"The Boom Stops Here!"

Today, Thursday, 10 June, there's oil in Pensacola Pass. This section of boom is tied off to the range marker across from the pass and protects the beach eastward toward Barrancas beach. Unfortunately, there isn't any more boom in place between this point and Sherman Cove to the west. The shoreline is unprotected!

This is one of the NASP's oil skimmers. The skimmer and another boat were encircling some oil on the surface with the boom. What you can't see is a Channel 3 film crew taking some video that will probably make the 10 O'clock news.

At first glance, looking westward down the beach, things appear normal. BUT, looks can be deceiving! When you take a closer look at what makes the high tide line you begin to see the problem that is beginning to develop.

This photo gives you a idea of the relative size of the "tar balls" that came in on the incoming tide.

The tar balls really aren't balls. They are flat clumps of this brownish oily material. This is what it looks like close up.


Looking closer along the shoreline, the problem becomes more obvious. This is oil washing up on the beach!

Oil Spill Preparations at NAS Pensacola - 6/5/10

Trout Point



With the wind now coming out of the southwest and reports of tar balls on Pensacola Beach I spent the morning checking out what was being done to protect the shoreline aboard NAS Pensacola. I started out at Trout Point on the west end of the base and made my eastward toward the Bayou Grande Marina where I have my boat. You can see in the photo that there's a boom in place here. BUT!



Trout Point

The booms made it around the point and a couple of hundred yards toward the east but well short of Sherman Cove. There is still a lot of unprotected shoreline left to be taken care of on this end of the base.

Sherman Cove Marina

Sherman Cove Marina, the power boat marina, was closed to all but work crews on Friday. Right now, they have a setup a channel with booms blocking off the east and western ends of the cove.

Barrancas Beach is Still Open

I walked the beach and saw no evidence of any oil anywhere. There were several families spread out all along the beach. But the beach wasn't crowded.

Enjoying it While They Can


With the boom boat crews working in the background, some folks were taking advantage of the great weather, enjoying the beach and the water while it's still clean and open.

Boom Crews on the Beach

Looking west down the beach you can see the booms that are already in place.

Paying Out More Boom

Crews on the shore help to pay out more booms as the boat crews link them together. The crews appear to be linking up the booms as they move toward the east. If you look close you can see the Ensign flying on the boat on the right. The wind was blowing in from the southwest - NOT GOOD!

Next Stop, Bayou Grande to see if they have closed it off yet.

Bayou Grande Marina

When I got to the marina it was still open. They hadn't blocked off the channel into the marina yet. I spoke to one of the the staff members. They had no idea how much longer the marina will remain open. It's a day-by-day situation. So, if you've got a boat in the water at BG marina, how much longer you'll be able to get in or out is anybodies guess.