Spillin' bout' da Spill

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

So... the oil spill. Having just completed an article about marine debris, with the leading culprit as plastic, I've remained inexplicably silent about the 5,000 gallons of crude oil that have been pumping into the Gulf of Mexico for the past 30 days and counting. What this disaster means to Gulf of Mexico wildlife and the environment can best be explained by photos, rather than words. The Boston Globe published a series of photos today and sliding through them, I was struck by this one of a young heron, crumpled in a soggy heap, surrounded by oil where oil should never ever be. 

The first thought that struck me when I heard about "the spill" was that we've left the keys to the planet on the kitchen counter and the teenagers made off with them. I dunno. Call me naive, ignorant, whatever you want. If we can't guarantee that disaster of this level will not happen, then we shouldn't be drilling at all.

I mean, here I was, obsessing with Andie MacDowell about all of our garbage and trying to shed some more light on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and now this. Now all I can picture is a horrifying Sci Fi film where Patch meets Spill. Wait a minute...polypropylene absorbs oil! This could be a match made in heaven!

For information about the impact of the oil spill on marine mammals and sea turtles, visit the NOAA website for daily updates. To donate $10 to support Gulf wildlife now, Text "WILDLIFE" to 20222.

Marine Debris Starts with You and Me?

Abagnale Entangled in Fishing Wire
Credit Marie DeStefanis

The muse for my second article in CoastViews Magazine is none other than a California Sea Lion by the name of Abagnale. He was spotted by tourists on January 1 at Pier 39. It took the Marine Mammal Center Rescue Team three weeks and twenty rescue attempts to catch this animal, which is why they named him after the infamous Frank Abagnale, Jr., a 1960's con artist who always seemed to be two steps ahead of the authorities. Abagnale was entangled in monofilament nylon fishing line, which was wrapped not only around his neck, but around his muzzle. He couldn't even open his mouth to eat.

Abagnale's story has a happy ending. The Marine Mammal Center finally caught up with him at Moss Landing, about 15 miles north of Monterey. His rescue was intense, with crew both in the water and on land, but their efforts finally paid off. Using darts with a mild sedative, the team rescued Abagnale on January 24th and took him to the Center, where he stayed for about 13 days, while he received top-notch medical care for his wounds and snarfed 100 pounds of herring. He was released on February 4th and has since been spotted at Moss Landing, looking good.

450 lbs of fishing net found inside a dead Sperm Whale at
Tomales Bay, CA 2008 / Credit The Marine Mammal Center

Years ago, I read about birds getting entangled in six-pack rings, and I couldn't bear the idea that our trash was impacting wildlife. But in fact, the six-pack rings are just the tip of the iceberg. Fishing line, fishing net, plastic bags and all types of cellophane and plastic are a growing problem for marine mammals and birds, who frequently mistake plastic for food and feed it to their young.

We have so much to think about. How do we recycle properly? How much of the plastic we recycle actually gets recycled? What happens to the rest of it? What do those numbers inside the triangle on plastic "recyclables" actually mean? How does our garbage end up in the ocean? What about the trash that washes up on our beaches? How does this relate to the giant Pacific Garbage Patch? How does this affect marine life? And what is being done to stop more trash from flowing into the ocean? Which organizations are watching out for wildlife and making a difference? More on this topic later. Must sleep.