Showing posts with label tourism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tourism. Show all posts
Saturday, August 21, 2010
We're Waitin' On Ya'
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Bayou: Nature's Nursery
As I spend more time in the Gulf and talk to more people who know this region I realize that it is an amazingly diverse and wondrous place. Unlike the shores of New England where I grew up that are famous for craggy bluffs and rocky shorelines, the Gulf coast is an alluvial creation of so many different rivers that drain from America's heartland. Inshore, these rivers create habitats comprised of marshes and swamps known as bayous. Bayous are homes for an amazingly diverse spectrum of wildlife. They are the breeding ground for countless creatures, provide protection from the elements and even other predators and they are an evolving and fragile ecosystem upon which the regions animal kingdom and humans so fully depend.
That is why so much work has gone into protecting these wetlands from the incursion of oil from the BP spill. In some areas this work has been effective, but in others closer to the source of the oil, things have not gone as well. Bayous and salt marshes on the Louisiana mainland and coastal islands have been the most at risk, and they remain exposed to the oil not recovered from the Gulf.
This piece is a tour of the bayous on the Pascagoula river. Captain Benny McCoy of McCoy River Tours takes us though the many swamps and marshes, and teaches us about the many cycles of life that go on there. If one wants to see nature's creatures, this is an excellent way to do that.
There was so much more that wasn't captured on camera that filled Benny's two hour tour. It was so very entertaining, fun and enlightening. He taught us about gators and egrets, flowers and marshmallows and the history of this place that most that don't live here probably never knew. For instance, did you know that parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were once a country independent from the United States? Neither did I.
Special thanks to Captain Benny McCoy for his hospitality and expert commentary. I learned a lot of things I'd never known and saw a lot of things I never imagines. Also thanks to Mark LaSalle of the Pascagoula River Audubon Center for setting me up with this wonderful opportunity.
That is why so much work has gone into protecting these wetlands from the incursion of oil from the BP spill. In some areas this work has been effective, but in others closer to the source of the oil, things have not gone as well. Bayous and salt marshes on the Louisiana mainland and coastal islands have been the most at risk, and they remain exposed to the oil not recovered from the Gulf.
This piece is a tour of the bayous on the Pascagoula river. Captain Benny McCoy of McCoy River Tours takes us though the many swamps and marshes, and teaches us about the many cycles of life that go on there. If one wants to see nature's creatures, this is an excellent way to do that.
There was so much more that wasn't captured on camera that filled Benny's two hour tour. It was so very entertaining, fun and enlightening. He taught us about gators and egrets, flowers and marshmallows and the history of this place that most that don't live here probably never knew. For instance, did you know that parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were once a country independent from the United States? Neither did I.
Special thanks to Captain Benny McCoy for his hospitality and expert commentary. I learned a lot of things I'd never known and saw a lot of things I never imagines. Also thanks to Mark LaSalle of the Pascagoula River Audubon Center for setting me up with this wonderful opportunity.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Broader Business Dilemma
This new video pulls back from the story of how the spill effects one person and takes a more macro view and tries to quantify some of the impact with statistics. Now Samuel Langhorne Clemens (you know him better as Mark Twain) said, "There are three kinds of facts. Lies, damn lies and statistics." The company that did the survey in this video segment didn't disclose their sample size or methodologies so I cannot vouch for the validity of the results, but they seem reasonable.
Before we get to the facts, we look at Orange Beach, AL on the day that Jimmy Buffett played his benefit on the beach. I spoke with one parrothead who came over from Louisiana for the show. He and his group took pity on me, offering sun screen and bottled water.
All the good things that you've heard about southern hospitality is absolutely true.
Please watch this and the other videos and tell your coworkers, friends and family about it. Talk with them about the Gulf and what you can do to help the region bounce back. It's up to all of us, and every little bit will help.
UPDATE: I heard a radio advert and saw a billboard for a benefit concert to be headlined by Jay Leno at the Beau Rivage casino in Biloxi on August 21. He will be the only one on the bill with tickets starting at $40. They are available now.
I've seen Jay in a theater where he tests out material for "The Tonight Show" and he was very funny. Since he was playing to the crowd and not TV cameras, he came across very differently. Since I was sitting right in front of the small stage, I realized how very tall he really is.
It will be interesting to see how well it does since Leno and casinos appeal to a different demographic than Buffett doing a beach show, but it will undoubtedly help. Who will be the next to step up for a benefit?
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Sunday, July 18, 2010
Oil leak stopped, mood's up a little
It’s been a squally weekend. Mostly cloudy punctuated by some pretty enthusiastic storm cells. One had enough gumption to take down the power for a spell. Outlook for the rest of the day is for more of the same. I don’t know if it was because it’s Sunday morning, the weather, or both but there was nobody out. Nobody save two joggers and a cyclist on a beach path. The village center was eerily empty. I saw one guy walking with an electric guitar in his hand and offered him a ride so his instrument wouldn’t get wet, but he was only one house away from his home. Oh well. The upcoming week looks for more sunshine.
Tourism up a tick
National and local news reports that hotel reservations are up following the apparently successful testing of the spewing well’s cap. MSNBC reports that some of the recreational fishing bans have been lifted in Louisiana state waters except for oiled and boomed areas, whatever that means. Alabama and effected Florida state waters are open for catch and release. It’s all still closed in Mississippi. The National Marine Fisheries Service bulletin issued on July 13th states that all fishing, including catch and release is prohibited in the closure area which covers 35% of the Gulf. Their web site said that there were no changes to the closure on July 17th. I suspect that they’re referring to waters outside the states’ three mile limits, but I’m not certain.
The government also estimates that about half of Louisiana’s oysters are dead. Not because of oil contamination but because of increased fresh water flowing from the mouth of the Mississippi river designed to keep the oil away from the delta. (Never heard anything about that tactic before now.) Could we have turned the corner on the spill? I think it’s more like the turn has started but we haven’t really gotten pointed in the right direction yet. There are too many different things, good and bad, that can happen before anyone knows for sure.
A Whale appears to be Moby Dick
After all of the hullaballoo over the gigantic A Whale crude Hoover’s arrival for real world testing in the Gulf, it apparently has come up wanting. According to Fox News, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zunkunft called the amount of oil collected by the behemoth, “negligible”.
I don’t have any pictures of the ship, but in the ones I have seen, the collection openings appeared to be above the waterline. How was that going to collect anything? There was also the issue of how high or low those openings were going to be as the ships tanks filled up with the oily water. I mean, the more weight that’s put in a ship or boat, the lower it’s going to sit in the water. Now there could have been a ballast system that would pump out clean sea water from holding tanks as oil was collected, but that was never explained, at least not in anything I’ve read.
Optimism
I guess it’s a good sign when Billy Nungesser, the very vocal president of Plaquemines Parish appears hopeful. According to Associated Press, Nungesser said, “It’s somewhat a sense of relief knowing, hopefully, that every bit of oil we pick up from here on out will be a little less that’s going to be out there, as opposed to picking up less than was being spilled and losing ground on a daily basis. It’s a great feeling.”
I was down on the beach this morning between rain squalls and walked up to a parked SUV with two US Fish and Wildlife folks inside to tell them that their headlamps were still on. They thanked me then one of them handed me a laminated card with a dozen phone numbers and almost half that many web addresses on it. He asked me to call one of the numbers if I saw any oiled wildlife or anything they should know about. I told them that I’d been in the region for about ten days and that I hadn’t seen anything dead or oiled anywhere I’d been and suggested that things might be getting better. He agreed that it was. He said that there are ongoing problems still on the offshore islands and that with the wind clocking around from the south, there might be some stuff heading for the coast. I’ll be watching over the next few days.
Next time…
Who’s really helping in this fight.
Tourism up a tick
National and local news reports that hotel reservations are up following the apparently successful testing of the spewing well’s cap. MSNBC reports that some of the recreational fishing bans have been lifted in Louisiana state waters except for oiled and boomed areas, whatever that means. Alabama and effected Florida state waters are open for catch and release. It’s all still closed in Mississippi. The National Marine Fisheries Service bulletin issued on July 13th states that all fishing, including catch and release is prohibited in the closure area which covers 35% of the Gulf. Their web site said that there were no changes to the closure on July 17th. I suspect that they’re referring to waters outside the states’ three mile limits, but I’m not certain.
The government also estimates that about half of Louisiana’s oysters are dead. Not because of oil contamination but because of increased fresh water flowing from the mouth of the Mississippi river designed to keep the oil away from the delta. (Never heard anything about that tactic before now.) Could we have turned the corner on the spill? I think it’s more like the turn has started but we haven’t really gotten pointed in the right direction yet. There are too many different things, good and bad, that can happen before anyone knows for sure.
A Whale appears to be Moby Dick
After all of the hullaballoo over the gigantic A Whale crude Hoover’s arrival for real world testing in the Gulf, it apparently has come up wanting. According to Fox News, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zunkunft called the amount of oil collected by the behemoth, “negligible”.
I don’t have any pictures of the ship, but in the ones I have seen, the collection openings appeared to be above the waterline. How was that going to collect anything? There was also the issue of how high or low those openings were going to be as the ships tanks filled up with the oily water. I mean, the more weight that’s put in a ship or boat, the lower it’s going to sit in the water. Now there could have been a ballast system that would pump out clean sea water from holding tanks as oil was collected, but that was never explained, at least not in anything I’ve read.
Optimism
I guess it’s a good sign when Billy Nungesser, the very vocal president of Plaquemines Parish appears hopeful. According to Associated Press, Nungesser said, “It’s somewhat a sense of relief knowing, hopefully, that every bit of oil we pick up from here on out will be a little less that’s going to be out there, as opposed to picking up less than was being spilled and losing ground on a daily basis. It’s a great feeling.”
I was down on the beach this morning between rain squalls and walked up to a parked SUV with two US Fish and Wildlife folks inside to tell them that their headlamps were still on. They thanked me then one of them handed me a laminated card with a dozen phone numbers and almost half that many web addresses on it. He asked me to call one of the numbers if I saw any oiled wildlife or anything they should know about. I told them that I’d been in the region for about ten days and that I hadn’t seen anything dead or oiled anywhere I’d been and suggested that things might be getting better. He agreed that it was. He said that there are ongoing problems still on the offshore islands and that with the wind clocking around from the south, there might be some stuff heading for the coast. I’ll be watching over the next few days.
Next time…
Who’s really helping in this fight.