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August 19, 2010

Thursday, August 19

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© OCEANA / Soledad Esnaola

 

The Oceana Latitude navigated through a minefield of hundreds of oil platforms (out of the thousands that exist in the Gulf of Mexico) today. Although Oceana’s experts were aware of the size of the industry in the region, seeing the rigs in person put it into an entirely new perspective. It’s truly dumb luck that we haven’t faced more problems up to now. Dr. Mike Hirshfield, Oceana’s Chief Scientist said, “Seeing another Transocean deepwater drilling rig poised to resume drilling as soon as someone gives them permission sent a cold chill down my back.”

And don’t worry if you haven’t seen one of these rigs for yourself, as Congress and the Obama Administration could be bringing them to a coast near you unless we all join together in opposition of new offshore drilling.

Here’s a few of the images our photographers captured as we made our way to Grand Isle, LA:

Tomorrow, Oceana will begin working with the University of Southern Mississippi to tag whale sharks off the coast of southeastern Louisiana. Because they are filter feeders, scientists are very concerned about their fate in the Gulf.