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Posted in Alabama Maritime News,BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Environment,Florida Maritime News,Gulf Coast,Louisiana Maritime News on June 8, 2010
GRAND ISLE, La – Kerry Sanders from The Today Show took a flight, June 7, on a Coast Guard helicopter for an aerial view of the Gulf Coast disaster. The view shows the scope of the devastation of the oil spill on day 49 of the greatest environmental disaster of our time.
Kerry Sanders on the Today show reporting on the situation on day 49 in the Gulf of Mexico following the BP oil spill.
As Sanders reports from the helicopter and you can hear the voice of the pilot saying this is definitely a new chapter in American history.
Watch Aerial View of the Gulf Spill:
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What you can see is a straight shot view out to the Deepwater Horizon rig. It is a rare view of this ongoing tragedy. You can see the natural gas that is burning off there down one mile and then two miles into the bedrock. That’s where they punched the hole that got out of control. The two platforms that are drilling the relief wells can also be seen which are not expected to be finished until August.
View of the site of the Deepwater Horizon. You can see the natural gas burning off and the two platforms that are drilling the relief wells.
Sanders says, “you can clearly see the discoloration and that discoloration is the oil and what it does is it coats the vegetation and it causes it to choke.”
You can see the discoloration of the Louisiana coastline where oil has contaminated the shores.
As he hovered outside the door of the helicopter, Sanders said he could smell the oil from 500 feet above the surface.
Aerial view showing Louisiana coastline near Grand Isle, LA where oil has gotten past the booms.
Louisiana coastline appears darkened where oil has contaminated the shores.