Rocky Kistner's blog

Laurel Lockamy thought she had seen the worst of the oil disaster last summer when waves of oil and tar patties washed onto her beach in Gulfport, MS, taking a major toll on the local tourist industry.

As scientists investigate whether the BP oil disaster contributed to an unexplained die-off of dolphins and sea turtles in the Gulf, another oil disaster is underway thousands of miles away in the middle of South Atlantic.

Sea turtles continue to wash ashore along the Gulf, forcing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to scramble and figure out what is causing the spike.

The baby dolphin lay on its side, one flipper pointed toward cloudy skies, rocking back and forth with the waves near Innarity Point, FL  

“I looked and saw a baby porpoise, a terrible sight to see,” local resident Chris McCune told WKRG-TV News out of nearby Mobile, AL.

As a resident of coastal Mississippi for more than 30 years, Shirley  Tillman is used to seeing a few drum fish, sea gulls or jelly fish wash up on nearby sandy shores. It’s a fact of life living by the sea.

As clean up crews still scour the beaches and marshes of southeast Louisiana to mop up oil that recently washed ashore, the Coast Guard confirmed the responsible party was an Anglo-Suisse Offshore Partners oil well in shallow waters of the Gulf. But according to the Wall Street Journal

Rocky Kistner

Mar 25 2011

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Fresh Louisiana crude washed into the beaches and dock areas near Grand Isle over the weekend, creating a sickening sight for the residents of this oil battered region. The reddish brown crude and oily sheen lapped onto the sandy and rocky shores, while some people flocked to Grand Isle’s famous white beaches for spring break unaware of the oily assault nearby.

Photo update: pictures of the oil slick are now coming in.

The Coast Guard is investigating reports of a potentially large oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico not far from the Deepwater Horizon site. According to a knowledgeable source, the slick was sighted by a helicopter pilot on Friday and is about 100 miles long. A fishing boat captain said he went through the slick yesterday and it was strong enough to make his eyes burn.

Cherri Foytlin is a Mom on a mission. She was pained by the 11 men killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig, devastated by the thick globs of Louisiana crude that invaded her shores, and saddened by the heartbreaking stories of fishermen whose livelihoods were put on hold.

Capt Lori DeAngelis runs a boating business called Dolphin Queen Cruises, which ferries tourists in Orange Beach, AL, to see pods of dolphins at play in the Gulf. Capt Lori reveres dolphins. In fact, she used to be licensed to handle the federally protected mammals.

“They are like kin to us,” she says.

The BP oil disaster put a huge dent in Capt Lori’s dolphin-watching business, but now it’s personal. Recently she watched over a young adult male dolphin that had washed up on the sandy shores of Orange Beach, lying motionless with its mouth agape.