I heard some super good news the other day via my inbox...I got an email from maggie kennedy, the photo director over at Garden and Gun magazine, that a story we did won an SPD merit award!! So very very happy and excited about this, as SPD is the grand pubah (is that correct?) of awards for photography and design...and for those of you scratching your heads, yes there is a magazing called Garden and Gun, and its an awesome magazine about all things southern.... cause if youre from the south, you probably have a garden and a gun, but the magazine goes much deeper than that... This story was about the endangered kemp's ridley sea turtle in the gulf after the oil spill, and the people that were trying to save them...I spent a good bit of time down there on 3 separate trips over the summer on different stories (scroll down to see my oil spill posts), with this story being the last and most uplifting... My first trip down there was still a big question mark...would the oil come ashore and cover the shore and the bayous of LA?? My second trip confirmed that yes, the oil is coming ashore, but not as bad as everyone at first thought. And this last trip was pretty much "the whole gulf coast pretty much dodged a bullet, but who knows what is happening off shore." And i think thats pretty much the thought even today. things are pretty much back to "normal", fishing and shrimping are open again, but nobody really knows what the long term prognosis is for the gulf. But an oil spill like this seemed to happen in the best possible place (if there is such a thing), as the gulf of mexico is like a giant toilet bowl. warm water+naturally occurring oil eating microbes+favorable currents and winds went to work on all of that oil...i still dont think its ok, and still cannot believe that a leak like this could go on as long as it did without a quick way to shut it down. just nuts.... there HAS to be better protocol in place, or just dont drill that deep, very simple. Of course oil today over $100 a barrel and talks of $200 a barrel this summer makes us all want to solve our energy problems domestically. my personal worry from the spill is what will happen to the bluefin tuna. Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn in the gulf every spring, and the hatch coincided with the oil spill..not good if youre a little bluefin fry... so it will be years before anyone knows how bad the tuna were hit. as you know i've caught lots of different kinds of fish over the years as its my passion...but bluefin tuna are on my bucket list and i've yet to catch one. they are a hearty bunch, so I'm hoping they come back strong as well....
