Tar Balls from the BP Horizon oil well disaster
We work so hard on the ranch day in and day out. We find we must physically leave the ranch in order to truly relax. Last Monday (July 19th) we took a 40 mile ride down to Seagrove Beach, that’s half-way between Rosemary Beach and Seaside (here’s a map). We consider this “our” beach because we own a lot there. We took some cold beer, crackers and cheese with the intention of taking in the sunset.
Typical oil spill clean up crew
Ever since the BP Oil rig explosion and resulting oil spill, there have been clean-up crews on our beach walking the surf line picking up tar balls. You will recall that a day or two before our visit, BP was apparently somewhat successful in capping the oil gushing from the ocean floor. We arrived on the beach about 3:00 or 4:00 PM. Guess What! There were no cleanup crews!
Cliff saw a couple of guys on a four-wheeler. Since vehicles are not allowed on Seagrove Beach, he figured they must be associated with BP. The men advised the cleanup crews had been sent home! And by home, I mean New Jersey – no local jobs here.
I suppose BP must have figured that since the oil gushing from their deep water well has been stopped for the moment there is no need to continue their clean up on our beach!
Tar balls picked up on Seagrove Beach 7/19/2010
I did not have my camera with me, so the images above of the tar balls on the beach was not actually what I saw, but is in fact very representative of the situation I observed. I did pick up the tar balls shown in the photo to the left.
I can tell you, there are literally hundreds of thousands, no…millions, of these tar balls in the surf at Seagrove Beach and, just like shells, they wash up on the shore and wash back out with the tide, getting covered by sand. We are going to be affected by this disaster for years to come. Pity the poor marine life and birds. 
The lesson we should learn from this is IT IS TIME TO MAKE USE CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW. Instead of oil rigs on the horizon, why not wind farms on the horizon?
To learn about our sustainable cattle operation and how we take care of our land, please visit our website at www.holidayranchsouthpolls.com
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