Gulf Oil Spill Update: Surfrider's Environmental Director: "No Real End in Sight"

An aerial photograph taken last week of a rip current 62 miles from the wellhead. Image courtesy of Blake Gordon

We asked Surfer Foundation's environmental director Chad Nelsen, head of their Not the Answer anti-offshore drilling initiative, to lend some perspective on the escalating situation in the Gulf of Mexico as continued efforts to stop the surging oil fail. Plus find out what you can do to help out (but get your HazMat training first).—Mary Anne Potts

What aspect of this disaster gets to you the most?
The element of this disaster that gets to me the most is that three weeks ago the oil industry was telling us that new technology has made offshore drilling 100 percent safe. Now we know that not only is it not 100 percent safe, the industry doesn't actually know what to do when there is a spill like this. It should noted that there was a similar deep water oil blowout in the East Timor Sea last summer that took 70 days to stop. Further, this disaster is revealing that the safety regulations for this type of drilling have been lax and not always in compliance.

The myths that have been perpetuated about offshore oil drilling are being exposed and we hope that the public will realize that new offshore oil drilling is not the answer to our energy needs.

You are a longtime advocate of no new drilling through Surfrider's Not the Answer initiative. How would you characterize the efforts to stop the oil well from leaking?
I would characterize the current attempts as desperate. We are 27 days into this spill and its likely that millions of gallons are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico every day, with no real end in sight.

Gulf Coast Oil Update: Should You Change Your Vacation? Surfrider Weighs In

A thunderstorm approaching in Miramar Beach on Florida's Gulf Coast. Photograph by Carol Mays, My Shot

As oil continues to surge into the Gulf of Mexico from the site of last week's rig accident, travelers who had planned to relax on the Gulf Coast's silky white-sand beaches this summer should probably reconsider. Perhaps a better option this year would be to help clean up coast with groups such as the Surfrider Foundation, which organizes beach clean-ups, wildlife rescue, and advocacy initiatives to protect our oceans. We tracked down Surfrider's Michael Sturdivant, chairman of Florida's Emerald Coast chapter, to give us an eye-witness account of the status of the beaches.—Mary Anne Potts

What is it like now that the oil could be making its way to the beach? Can you describe what you see for us?
Oil has not reached our shores in Blue Mountain Beach, Florida. But we have had an increase in birds washing up for several days now. Maybe a dozen a day, so not huge quantities, but certainly more than the usual couple a month. There is no oil on the birds, but perhaps they are ingesting contaminated fish or asphyxiating.

Which popular tourist beaches are likely to be affected by the oil? And for how long?
Unfortunately, I anticipate that all of our white-sand beaches will be severely affected, from west to east—Pensacola, Navarre, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Miramar, Blue Mountain Beach, Grayton Beach, Seaside, Inlet Beach, Panama City, Mexico Beach. We are expecting the beaches to be unsafe for many months, perhaps a year. They will likely not fully recover until many years after the oil drilling stops.