Seeing and smelling the oil approaching Louisiana's shore

By Christine Dell'Amore

Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana--After about five days of reporting on the Gulf oil spill here in Louisiana, today I actually had the opportunity to see it.

National Geographic magazine photographer Tyrone Turner invited me to join him on a helicopter ride over Chandeleur Sound, which is pretty much ground zero for the slow-moving catastrophe. (See a map of Louisiana's barrier islands.)

Leaving from Jesuit Bend (about a half-hour south of New Orleans), we flew over wetlands not yet impacted by the spill but still heavily taxed by fishers, hunters, and even oil companies, which have carved out long, runway-like channels through the marshes to lay their pipelines.


A wetland close to the Mississippi River that's still untouched by oil.
Photo by Christine Dell'Amore

We hit the open expanse of the sound, spotting some shiny-backed dolphins but nothing else awry. Then faint, russet-colored wisps began to emerge, streaking across the surface. As we headed for them, the oil streaks became wider and more vibrant, ranging from a deep, almost brick red to a weak-coffee color.



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http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/05/over-the-oil-slick-in-louisiana.html

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