Black Death

As a naturalist and lover of all the wonderful creatures that share this world with us, my heart is so heavy. This massive oil spill is literally going to turn the see red with all the death it is already starting to generate and there is no end in sight. After drilling and working with oil for years how is it that no one has found a way to contain or stop an oil slick? How is it that this tragedy not only happened but was not stopped in its tracks? How is it that nothing was learned from the horrific events of the Exxon spill?

I can't even watch the news anymore as I can't see through the tears.

SO many experts warned of this after the Exxon Valdez spill. So many experts told the government and the rest of us that oil spills don't EVER go away. That the deadly black tides have long lasting if not permanent effects on the shoreline it comes in contact with. Twenty years after the Valdez tragedy the surface looks fine but all you need to do is dig a few inches down to find the black death. Most species have never recovered after the so called "clean up" and still more than two decades later we are in the same spot. We can put people in space, design machines to do almost anything but we can't contain an oil slick.

I feel like I need to do something and do something now but alas, I am not financially well off enough to travel there and help save the thousands of dolphins, seals, whales, manatees, sea turtles, hundreds of species of birds and pelicans and of course all the shrimp, oysters, crabs and fish and so much more.

What I can do though is start creating more awareness about these tragedy's through the magazine and on the internet. What I can do is support the local groups trying to keep Enbridge and their proposed pipeline out of our precious BC coast waters. What I can do is read as much as I can and work with others to try and push for better policies and understanding.

If you  want to learn more about the aftermath, I strongly suggest you find a couple of books written by Dr. Riki Ott. One is called Sound Truth and Corporate Myth$ and the other is Not One Drop. Both are scary well written facts and stories about the Exxon spill. Sadly looking ahead, I know this current disaster is many, many times worse and the implications of that are terrifying. I encourage people to speak out, read up and get involved in anyway they can. For a world so dependent on oil, we need to do more to prevent these catastrophes in the future because, there will be others.

Yet with that said, the government and large corporations didn't really learned from the last disaster…. and here we are again, with no end in sight…..