A Walk on the Beach Part 4

On May 11th, Eric went out on his own to check out the beaches of Waveland, Bay Saint Louis, and the Bay. We had drove this area many times while in Ms. and saw many clean up crews working up and down these beaches often. We did not expect to find much in the area, and we were right. Eric covered the beaches and alot of the Bay. Of course, much of the bay is marsh, so not all of it was covered.

The beaches were clean of tar and very few dead animals. Eric was amazed at how great they looked. While out, he ran into a worker of the Ms Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). They talked for a bit about what MDEQ's role is and how things were going on the beaches. The man said that MDEQ was taking samples of water, sand, and animals (excluding dolphins and turtles) that washed ashore. He said that they are still finding tar balls, and are trying to keep them cleaned. The man said that they were monitoring the situation and BP. Of course, Eric knew that this was probably what MDEQ wants people to think, and knew that the man could have said anything, but it didn't make it fact. But what was clear to Eric, was on this day, the beaches looked great, everything "looked" normal. Except still no Pelicans.



Crab having a snack




This shark was found in the Bay. No idea how it died, but its jaw and dorsal fin was cut out.



A Walk on the Beach Part 3

On May 10th, I set out to Pass Christian to check out the last part of the beach in that area. I did not go out till about 5pm and ended at dark. The area covered was from the Pass Christian Harbor to about the end of the beach. I didn't get to cover the whole beach due to the sun going down.  But what I saw was more then enough for one day.

This section of beach was tar free. I didn't see one sign of tar or the odd brown foam. There was even a lack of the black debris stuff that we found on the other beaches covered. But what I did find was death. This was probably the worst case of death along all the other beaches. 3 different turtles, a blow fish, many rays, a horseshoe crab, birds..it was overwhelming. This was a very short section of the beach, and the amount of animals were unbelievable.  Another interesting thing was all the shells. Of course its normal to find shells on the beach, but the amount on this stretch of the beach was odd. In the days before this, we had covered over 10 miles of beach, and we saw very few shells, yet this part of the beach they were piled up everywhere. I'm only pointing this out as it seemed abnormal to me, and Eric and his father, who have both spent a lot of time on this section of beach, agreed with me.   Again no pelicans, not one!

I want to talk about the Sea Turtles for a second. You will notice that the sea turtles are spray painted. IMMS is doing this to mark the ones they have counted. When a sea turtle is found they come out, spray paint it and then leave it there. They are not taking samples from these turtles. I want to say, that in my opinion this is about the worst tracking system I have ever heard. I do not understand how they could be sure that they are getting the correct count by spraying them and leaving them. I also do not understand why they are not taking the remains back to IMMS for proper disposal. But then, nothing IMMS does surprises me these days.



Very large whole fish





There is a turtle, 4 fish, a flounder, and a ray here.



As I walked up on this, I thought it was a ball.

Poor turtle

I have NO idea what this is. Maybe a sea slug?



It was very small. It only caught my eye because of the brightness of the yellow.


Miss the other post in this 5 part series?

Walk on the Beach Part 1
Walk on the Beach Part 2

A Walk On the Beach Part 2

On May 9th, Eric and I hit the beach again. It had been days since our first trip out. This time we covered the beach from Long Beach harbor to Pass Christian Harbor. We knew that the beaches changed from day to day but our goal was to cover all beaches from Waveland to Gulfport. We wanted to see the conditions of all the beaches and see if we could see a difference in any of them. Although we were in Mississippi for 2 weeks, the amount of time were able to go out was limited, so we wanted to make the most of our time. This was a very long walk. The surf was very rough this day.

As we started out it was clear that clean up crews had been out that morning. But it was clear they were not cleaning up dead animals! On this stretch of the beach the tar balls were smaller and there were fewer of them. But there was not a shortage of dead animals. There were tons of fresh washed up fish along the beach. Everything from fish heads to whole fish. We came to the conclusion that some of the fish washing up were fish that had been caught. The fish heads we found had clearly been severed and thrown into the water. We also found catfish that appeared to have been caught filleted and the remains tossed into the water. We found a whole fish with a hook and line in its mouth as well. It is clear that some of these fish are victims of fishing, however it was also clear that most were not. There were lots of dead whole fish, rays, birds, and our first turtle. It was clear the turtle had been there for a long time. We saw lots of Sea birds, but still no pelicans. Where are the pelicans? I have never been to this area and not seen pelicans.



Tar Balls mixed in the sand




Fresh Tar Balls




Tar balls along the beach




Ray



Very  large  Fish head



Bag of Tar balls left in the sand





Brown sea foam




This fish had no visible wounds, but appeared to have internal injuries



Large Catfish



We saw about 40 live Rays off the beach




This poor guy had a broken wing. I was said to find out there was no rescue groups for injured gulls.




Small Tar balls down the beach





Normal? We saw 3 in the area.




Dead bird




Someone place a cross on the beach.





Fish with a hook and line in its mouth




RIP Turtle




HUGE fish!



If you missed Part 1 of this series you can find it here.