The Daily Glob

"Turtle Rescue Plan Succeeds"

"Scientists have revealed that a mammoth effort to move thousands of turtle eggs from beaches around the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have saved almost 15,000 of the reptiles." Melissa Gaskill reports for Nature News October 8, 2010.

"She Recruited Facebook Friends To Save Gulf Coast's Hermit Crabs"

When the Gulf oil spill came to Grand Isle State Park, Louisiana ranger Leanne Sarco knew her job running a summer program for children would be cancelled. So she used Facebook to recruit and organize volunteers in a project to clean oiled hermit crabs.

Federal Cops to Gulf Journos: Don't Dig -- It's Illegal

"What are you in for?" a grizzled inmate might ask some future jailed journalist. "Building sand castles," the journalist might well reply. Police officers from the Fish & Wildlife Service and National Park Service are telling journalists they may not dig or build sand castles on public Gulf of Mexico beaches. The apparent problem: they might discover that layers of oil lie beneath beaches the feds and BP have declared clean.

Forget what they taught you in J-school; the feds say journalists are not supposed to dig. Don't believe us? Watch the video:

 

Reporter Dan Thomas of WEAR ABC 7 TV (Pensacola) ventured out to the Gulf Islands National Seashore September 18, 2010, toy beach shovel in hand. He quickly found layers of crude oil less than a foot below the surface -- giving the lie to BP and government claims that beaches had been cleaned.

He was quickly accosted, first by a US Fish & Wildlife agent, and then by a uniformed National Park Service police officer, and told that what he was doing was illegal. Illegal to report in a National Park without a press pass (Thomas had one). Illegal to dig in a National Park (this one was a tourist beach). Illegal to dig below 6 inches. Even illegal to build sand castles. And the officers left the impression that it might be illegal to ask why.

In fact, the feds have yet to document definitively that any of these things are illegal. They fit a larger pattern of BP and federal agents illegally restricting access to reporters trying to report on the impacts of the BP Gulf oil spill.

-- "Building Sand Castles on Florida’s Beaches Is Illegal, Feds Tell
Oil-Hunting Reporter," Raw Story, September 19, 2010, by Stephen C.
Webster.

-- "BP's Press Harassment Continues," Mother Jones, September 21,
2010, by Jen Phillips.

-- Previous Stories: WatchDogs of June 30, 2010 ;  July 14, 2010 ;  July 14, 2010 ;   and August 25, 2010 .

"Gulf May Avoid Direst Predictions After Oil Spill"

"How much damage resulted from almost five million barrels of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico is still being toted up in laboratories and government offices."

"In La. Beach Town, Bitter Farewells To a Lost Summer"

"This is it. It is over. Summer is lost. Those were Fred Marshall's thoughts as he slumped behind his tiny desk at Gulfstream Marina, worry lines criss-crossing his face, redness framing his weary blue-green eyes in this picturesque beach town.

With Well Capped, Scientists Begin Assessing Spill's Environmental Toll

"With the Deepwater Horizon well capped, federal officials have turned their energies toward holding BP accountable for the environmental damage caused by hundreds of millions of gallons of oil loosed into the Gulf.

"Tropical Storm Track Aligns with Oil Slick"

Just in case you’re wondering why the skimmers and support ships and all the other craft plying the oil-stained Gulf of Mexico are making for port, have a look at the National Hurricane Center map below: 

Andrew C. Revkin reports for Dot Earth in the New York Times July 22, 2010.

Ships Leaving Spill Site as Storm Bonnie Looms

"With Tropical Storm Bonnie heading into the Gulf of Mexico and expected to kick up high waves and winds near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill  site this weekend, crews on Thursday began disconnecting the rigs drilling two relief wells in the Gulf, effectively delaying the effort to permanently plug the blown-out Macondo well by nearly two weeks. Late Thursday, the federal government ordered dozens of ships to evacuate the spill site." Jaquetta White reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune July 22, 2010.

"Storms Threaten To Shut Down BP's Gulf Well Work"

"Storms are threatening to delay BP's undersea efforts to permanently plug the leaky well in the Gulf of Mexico. The federal government's oil spill chief says Wednesday that if a storm moves into the Gulf, ships would have to leave and BP couldn't observe the capped well." David Dishneau and Colleen Long report for the Associated Press July 21, 2010.

"In the Panhandle, the 'Summer of Oil' Seems Endless"

"Every time Linda Young takes her dog out for a walk, morning or evening, she can smell it. Young, an environmental activist who lives near the beach in Navarre, next door to Pensacola Beach, said the odor of oil is now a constant part of her life." Craig Pittman reports for the St. Petersburg Times July 11, 2010.