Our Beautiful Florida Beaches

[m1tchells]

I have been so blessed to have lived at one the most beautiful beaches in the world for over 30 years. To know that the next few days may may bring a change for years to come is heartbreaking. May God help us and protect our unreplaceable natural resources, our precious wildlife and, though I hate to mention it, our livelihood.

 

[AuburnJen92]

Here is a place that if you have extra old linens, towels, toothbrushes, or other things listed on their website, you can donate them for the upcoming need for the oil spill.

http://www.seabirdsanctuary.com/

ETA: I am collecting supplies at our school from our kids to send to the sanctuary as part of our recycling program.

 

[DaveInTN]

I read tonight an article where a UF oceanographer is warning that the oil could get caught up in the Loop Current and actually impact the east coast of FL from Miami up to Jax.

 

[AuburnJen92]

Yes, unfortunately, that is very likely.

 

[LONE-STAR]

I read tonight an article where a UF oceanographer is warning that the oil could get caught up in the Loop Current and actually impact the east coast of FL from Miami up to Jax.

Man thats bad. I heard its the worst spill in the gulf in 30 years. I remember every time we went to the beach here in Texas until I was about 10 there was always black tar like stuff stuck to my feet.

 

[AprilLizbeth]

This really is sickening. Having lived in on the west coast of Florida for all but 2 years of my life, I cannot explain how upset I am about the current situation in the Gulf. BP needs to step up and fix the leak. I am terrified that he beaches I grew up on will never be the same.

 

[sdsmom]

I know. It really sickens me as well. We are taking this week off of school (we homeschool) to prepare for next week's trip to Disney, but I think we may take a day and head out to the beach to savor these last few days of the beautiful white sands before things get nasty around here. I'm so sad at what is about to happen.

 

[retired and happy]

It is indeed sad to watch what is likely coming to the beaches and knowing there is little man can do to prevent it despite an all-out effort. Think too of the men who died when the rig exploded. We may never know the real cause of the explosion, but we should be compassionate toward those who lost their lives because of it.

In our lifetimes we will likely never be free from the need for more oil. Maybe if some other technique had been discovered and developed a hundred years ago, we would not be in the predicament we are in today....to constantly need to find more underground reserves. But until another widescale economical source of energy is found, we will continue to need oil. We will continue to drill and will continue to risk such as we see today.

There are no easy answers. Even those who decry drilling and its dangers use the oil that is found. We can only hope for the future and a renewable resource to replace oil. May God be with us in the coming days and in our future development.

 

[owensmama2007]

Jaime....I sure hope things don't get bad. Destin is such a beautiful area and I so looking forward to going there in a few weeks( I don't know if you saw my post a few weeks ago but we had to cancel our beach trip due DH getting a new position a work. We can still do a week at The Fort though).

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Some times we never know how good things can be until they are threatened.

 

[IslandHtsCampers]

I worked in the BP terminal last week in Carteret, NJ. Although it is a very large company and we were 1500 miles away, I didn't see a single employee in the office or the field who wasn't visibly upset at the situation. One of the largest oil companies appeared to be very tight-knit outfit. May all those who have lost loved ones have the strength to get through these times.

 

[m1tchells]

Jaime....I sure hope things don't get bad. Destin is such a beautiful area and I so looking forward to going there in a few weeks( I don't know if you saw my post a few weeks ago but we had to cancel our beach trip due DH getting a new position a work. We can still do a week at The Fort though).

I did see your post. Sorry you had to cancel your time here...but what could possibly be better than a week at the Fort?! We won't be down there until December...which seems sooo long away! Anyway, thanks for thinking about us! We had a fabulous Night of Worship and Prayer this evening at our church....so we are looking forward to some miracles in the days and weeks to come.

 

[AuburnJen92]

bump

 

[OK GRUMPY]

I'm sick about this! Went to Topsail State Park and checked out Grayton Beach this last week. I hope BP rights a terrible wrong!

 

[auntie]

I hope so too. Watching the news tonight they showed oil still on the shores in Alaska from the Exxon Valdez(sorry sp.?)...which was over 20 years ago. I was amazed, they poked through the sand on the shore a little bit..and there it was.... small puddles of oil.
Very sad.
I hope they are able to cap it very soon. I can't imagine how they're going to clean it up.
Gulf coast beaches are so beautiful, I hope it doesn't make it to shore.

 

[AuburnJen92]

I am so proud of my kiddies at school. We got over 25 towels, 4 bottles of Dawn dish soap and many toothbrushes already for the first day of collection. Hopefully the box will be so full I will have to drive the supplies to the sanctuary. I put three towels in the pile myself in addition to the list above from the kids.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

That is GREAT! Jen that is something to be proud of

 

[lucy_love]

I am so proud of my kiddies at school. We got over 25 towels, 4 bottles of Dawn dish soap and many toothbrushes already for the first day of collection. Hopefully the box will be so full I will have to drive the supplies to the sanctuary. I put three towels in the pile myself in addition to the list above from the kids.

What part of FL are you in? I teach at Countryside High School in Clearwater and we started our collection today. We are bringing supplies to the seabird sanctuary, is that the same place you all are donating to? I really tried to get my students pumped to bring items in- but they are high schoolers

 

[m1tchells]

While it really stinks that we actually NEED this plan.......THANK GOD we have one! This was recently posted on www.waltonoutdoors.com

Walton County has an oil spill action plan, and it includes hay

Walton County Sheriff's deputy rolls out a giant bale of hay on to South Walton beaches. Photo courtesy Walton County Sheriff's Dept.
Stage One defense: barges equipped with blowers will be placed to spray hay into the water for the oil to adhere to
Walton County Emergency Management in conjunction with C.W. Roberts Contracting INC, has developed a plan to prevent the oil from reaching the 26 miles of Walton County beaches. This makes Walton County the first county in our area to have a plan, outside of placing booms, that will take effect before the oil is on the beaches. Booms are 90 percent ineffective in open water. The plan encompasses three stages.

In stage one, barges equipped with blowers will be placed to spray hay into the water for the oil to adhere to. The hay will clump together with the oil and will make it easier to remove the waste from the water. The plan is to spot the oil as it nears our beaches, but is still miles off shore, and begin to spread the hay. (Video demonstration will be available on www.waltonso.org and the Walton County Sheriff’s Office FaceBook on Wednesday)

Stage two includes 50,000 feet of New Green Type 4 belted silt retention fence ready to be deployed along the shores of the Walton County beaches. As needed, the fencing will be positioned along the beach as a second line defense against the oil. Bales of hay are being strategically placed along the beaches of Walton County and will be rapidly deployed in the case oil does reach the coast. The hay will be spread along the shore in front of the New Green Type 4 belted silt retention fence to capture the oil and will make cleanup easier. The oil covered hay can be cleaned up using the machinery the county uses to clean up the seaweed.

Stage three provides a great defense for our precious Coastal Dune Lakes. The lakes will be protected by concrete jersey walls, wrapped with the New Green Type 4 belted silt retention fence, placed and lined with GeoHay. GeoHay is made from 1-hundred percent recycled synthetic fiber. This product acts as a filter and is highly absorbent, as well as non-biodegradable, strong, and durable.

Additionally Regional Utilities and Murphy Oil have provided 10,000 feet of boom that is ready to be deployed. Until floating petroleum approaches the Florida Coast, it is impossible to predict the precise locations, extent and amount of time the boom equipment would need to be deployed.
The county is submitting the action plan to the Department of Environmental Protection seeking their approval. The county is prepared to move forward with this plan in an effort to protect the beaches of Walton County.

 

[AuburnJen92]

What part of FL are you in? I teach at Countryside High School in Clearwater and we started our collection today. We are bringing supplies to the seabird sanctuary, is that the same place you all are donating to? I really tried to get my students pumped to bring items in- but they are high schoolers

We are on the east coast in St. Lucie County, but I am most probably going to bring them the supplies when I return the golf cart body to Pete (Gatordad) in a couple of weeks. We have had such a response that I doubt I could afford to ship it all. We have elem and middle schoolers.