Pictures of Pensacola Beach-June 2010 & June 2011

[TomD]

I live here and kept a photo record of last year. The top picture is fairly evocative and is from last year, the bottom a week or two ago.

BTW: The shrimp boat in the background of the top shot is NOT shrimping, it was "pulling boom". In other words, involved in the cleanup, just like everything else that would float.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/Oil-1.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/DSC27346.jpg

[Dogman]

Hi tom glad to see you make it here.

What is your take on the condition of the beaches now, the public beaches got the most attention, but I wonder about the out of the way ones. Seeing that you fish the gulf you should have thoughts.

Also come on by the reload section, inquiring minds and all of that stuff... ;D

[madfranks]

Thanks for the pictures. My brother lives in Pensacola, and he's told me that he's not worried about the oil slick like they were a year ago. I can't help but wonder about the fumes, if and how dangerous they are. I recall reading about all the toxins they sprayed into the gulf contributing to toxic fumes in the area. Anyway, how'd you manage that second picture way out there over the ocean?

[ximmy]

Gulf Oil Spill One Year Later: The Most Powerful Photos

One year after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 offshore workers and triggered one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history, the effects are still felt and seen along the Gulf Coast.

Some scientists have deemed the health of the Gulf of Mexico as "nearly back to normal." Perhaps some things are -- tourists are slowly returning to the coast, children are back to playing in the water, food has been labeled safe for consumption. But these are just images of normality.

There is still doubt among many people near the Gulf about the safety of their water and their food. Scientists confirm that oil has been found on dead dolphins discovered along the coast, as unusual amounts of deceased marine life continue to wash ashore.

Workers are lost in the claims process, still waiting for their checks from BP. Hundreds of people in Louisiana have reported oil spill-related health problems to the state, while many others are experiencing symptoms of a mysterious illness.

And despite all of this, not only does the liability cap for Big Oil remain unchanged, but Congress has yet to pass a single major law on oil or gas drilling since the disaster.

While some may suggest that the Gulf Coast is back to normal, the devastating effects of the oil spill are still unfolding toward an uncertain future one year later. Below are some of the most iconic images from the resulting aftermath of the tragedy -- visual proof that, despite being difficult and heart-breaking to take in, reminds us that we must do everything in our power to ensure an accident like this doesn't happen again.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/bp-gulf-oil-spill-one-year-photos_n_851006.html

[TomD]

There is reputed to be a strata of oil below the sand, they spent quite a while doing cores in the sand. When I say oil, that isn't quite right. It was oil when it hit the beach but the volitiles evaporate leaving a dense, solid, black substance that closer resembles asphalt. I spent an hour or two collecting tarballs, still have them.

The true potential disaster didn't happen, at least here or in Alabama. I hear it did in Louisiana. That would be for the oil to have made it into the bays and really screw up the ecosystem in the wetlands and grass flats. The beaches are largely self cleaning but the bays would have been another story.

Sick fish? There have some news stories about them including an article today with pictures of deformed fish but I haven't seen them in my 3 recent fishing trips. I've hit 5-6 spots within 20 or so NM from the inlet in the past couple of weeks and caught a number of fish, large, numerous and healthy. Picture below of a snapper we caught a week ago, there is a limit of two but we could have caught enough to sink my boat under the weight. I conclude that the areas producing the deformed and sick fish are isolated. But they do exist.

The tourists have come back. Truthfully, most of us down here are primarily worried about the economy.

I have direct knowledge of the Florida panhandle through Mobile, Al and a little. They got it worse over in Louisiana in a couple of ways, a worse oil hit followed by a worse economic hit as the administration shut down the oil industry.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/DSC2369t.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/IMG_0638t.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/IMG_0662t.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/IMG_0648t.jpg

[Dogman]

That is one fine looking snapper, that pic made me hungry some good eating there.

[Horn]

Pretty fish, Tom.

I can almost see all the corexit evaporating into the atmosphere with rainbow effect in that bottom picture with all the beach goers.

[willie pete]

Great Looking Snapper TD...you said theres a "2 Fish" Limit? DAMN....that last pic...looks like the point out Pickens road...no?

[TomD]

Great Looking Snapper TD...you said theres a "2 Fish" Limit? DAMN....that last pic...looks like the point out Pickens road...no?

A 2 red snapper limit but you can keep other fish, all with their own limits. The snapper limit was good at first but like most things government gets into, they don't know when to stop. The snapper have taken over the reefs, driving most other species off. They've become insanely numerous, anything you put down has an 8-12 pounder on the line within a couple of seconds and when you reel up, 10-20 others follow it up. Never seen snapper on the surface before.

BTW: You apparently know the place. I love the Ft Pickens area, occasionally government does something good.

Do you recognize these?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/DSC9069t.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/dsc1410tonemapped.jpg

[willie pete]

A 2 red snapper limit but you can keep other fish, all with their own limits. The snapper limit was good at first but like most things government gets into, they don't know when to stop. The snapper have taken over the reefs, driving most other species off. They've become insanely numerous, anything you put down has an 8-12 pounder on the line within a couple of seconds and when you reel up, 10-20 others follow it up. Never seen snapper on the surface before.

BTW: You apparently know the place. I love the Ft Pickens area, occasionally government does something good.

Do you recognize these?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/DSC9069t.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x229/TomD77/misc%20stuff/dsc1410tonemapped.jpg

Yep....a gun/cannon battery and the old Fort itself (inside) I'm sure you're aware they held Geronimo there at one point in time, I guess he was like the OBL of the day..lol ...is the pier on the point still there? ...used to throw lines off of it and the bay bridge

That's ridiculous about the Red Snapper, we used to go out in the Gulf on "mickey-mouse" party boats and freakin' HAUL them in, it was like you said, all you had to do is drop your line and pull it in, EVERYONE caught RS, in fact some people would sell 'em on the pier when the boat got back in.....we Kept all ours..RS IS a Damn good eating fish...baked,grilled,fried...Delicious taste

[StreetsOfGold]

Tom, how's the mullet fishing? Do any??

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

There is reputed to be a strata of oil below the sand, they spent quite a while doing cores in the sand. When I say oil, that isn't quite right. It was oil when it hit the beach but the volitiles evaporate leaving a dense, solid, black substance that closer resembles asphalt. I spent an hour or two collecting tarballs, still have them.

The true potential disaster didn't happen, at least here or in Alabama. I hear it did in Louisiana. That would be for the oil to have made it into the bays and really screw up the ecosystem in the wetlands and grass flats. The beaches are largely self cleaning but the bays would have been another story.

Sick fish? There have some news stories about them including an article today with pictures of deformed fish but I haven't seen them in my 3 recent fishing trips. I've hit 5-6 spots within 20 or so NM from the inlet in the past couple of weeks and caught a number of fish, large, numerous and healthy. Picture below of a snapper we caught a week ago, there is a limit of two but we could have caught enough to sink my boat under the weight. I conclude that the areas producing the deformed and sick fish are isolated. But they do exist.

The tourists have come back. Truthfully, most of us down here are primarily worried about the economy.

I have direct knowledge of the Florida panhandle through Mobile, Al and a little. They got it worse over in Louisiana in a couple of ways, a worse oil hit followed by a worse economic hit as the administration shut down the oil industry.




We fished the mid / lower Texas coast all last summer... Fish were all healthy and it was a really good year for fishing but I suspect it had more to do with the fact that the current carries away from us. We ate trout and reds but have been staying away from shrimp and oysters.

[willie pete]

Tom, how's the mullet fishing? Do any??

TD ...you throw a cast-net?