CASUALTIES OF THE GULF OF MEXICO DISASTER: Beneath the Surface

CASUALTIES OF THE GULF OF MEXICO DISASTER: Beneath the Surface
Videography and song by Gale Mead www.galemead.com

Lead guitar: Eric McFadden. Tenor Sax: Federico Martinez.

Carpets of crinoids - cousins of the sea-star - stretched their long limbs languidly into the current for morsels of planktonic food. Colorful tropical fish drifted among gracefully spiraling wire corals. Somber-faced grouper hovered warily while jacks and sharks cruised by, curious about the submersibles lights. Fifty miles south of Mississippi, I was the first human ever to lay eyes on the teeming, thriving, dazzling undersea metropolis that was Salt Dome Mountain. As rich and diverse as Texas Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary to the west, or Floridas coral reefs to the south, but a little deeper, and totally unexplored.

It was July 29, 2002, and I was a submersible pilot with the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a joint project of National Geographic and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, led by my mother, Dr. Sylvia Earle. Fishermen and oilmen have long known the Gulf of Mexico by what they could extract from it with their nets and their drilling rigs. We were there to study it from the inside out.

Salt Dome Mountain is an unexpectedly shallow seamount rising from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico to within 200 feet of the surface. Its just south of the Mississippi coast, just north of where a raging gusher of oil now spews death and destruction with no end in sight. And no beginning in sight either, as the vast majority of this catastrophe is occurring underwater, beyond the reach of television news cameras. The video below is a compilation of images from my dive eight years ago, posted with permission from Sustainable Seas Expeditions. You can find more videos of the undersea life near the blowout by using Google Ocean.

It remains to be seen when or even whether the raging torrent of oil can be stopped, but even in the best case scenario, the damage already done far exceeds what most of us can yet get our minds around. May it at least not pass unnoticed. And may we at long last consider that the consequences of our actions should be weighed before, and not after, the damage is done.

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[toddholladay]

I have been watching the sub that has been looking for oil for the last 8 days..as of yet has not found any or even signs of oil..just beautiful pictures as these.. Also a report on the news 160 boats searching and they found no oil also..hummm.could this oil spill have been just a hoax on the people ???? it's just strange that we have heard the reports of how much oil has been leaked...where is it ?? I'm just saying

[galemead]

@toddholladay Wow. I wish you were right. First of all, let me point out that the video above was shot eight years ago. Now. I would appreciate a link to this sub you're referring to, not to mention those 160 boats that can't find any oil, because it's the first I've heard of either. I have a first-hand account from a friend who works for USF and was deck boss aboard the ship that discovered oil at 400 and 1200 meters depth. Hoax? I don't think so.

[AceDynasty79]

The Title I Also Think Was.........."IRONY" Or Am I Wrong

[galemead]

@AceDynasty79 I didn't mean it ironically. The place where that footage was taken is only 16 miles from the blowout site.

My intention in putting this video out was to communicate a little bit of what it felt like to be on that incomparably beautiful spot on the planet., before the world went to shit. before that place got defiled with oil and dispersant.

Because if you don't know, you can't care.

I'll try to do a better job of communicating more clearly in the future.

[djitaldawg]

Hey Gale, where are the casualties you speak of in the title of your video? The fish I saw all looked healthy and active. Let me tell you about the real casualties her. Myself and many ,many other oilfield workers like myself will now have to leave our United States to go work overseas to support our families. We will be away from our families for months at a time for an undetermined amount of time. It could be years before the Gulf of Mexico returns to normal. I am the true casualty here!!!

[galemead]

@djitaldawg @djitaldawg The video was shot before the spill. It's meant to show the way things were, not the way they are now. I tried to make that clear in the accompanying text. The Gulf of Mexico will likely never return to "normal." The loss of your job and your way of life is one of many, many consequences of this disaster. It's a tragedy of unprecedented proportion.

[moonmilk15]

yeah this is the before, not the after

[lujoebonjo]

@toddholladay the tons of dispersant they sprayed with the oil made it settle to the bottom of the sea floor. A terrible short-sighted idea from the get go. Now the oil is killing the most basic building blocks f the ocean, plankton and sea floor growth. Basically we swept the oil under a rug and are now trying to forget about it.

[dropdead7419]

we reap what we sow...................

[toddholladay]

@Funkull have u read a word I said...the idiot is u my friend...learn to read

[Funkull]

@toddholladay

ah ok!... you work for BP... idiot...

[toddholladay]

@000Winter000 I have been hearing that....it would be great if the media had interviews with B.P so the american citizens knew what was actually going on.also when people were threaten with a felony for taking pictures or getting anywhere near...makes me distrust it all....I have heard the well that was capped had coordinate on the screen ...it showed it in the Mediterranean ..whats the truth ....I can honestly say ..I don't know

[TheGulfofmexicoblues]

Take a look/listen at a very well done original song/video. Search for The Gulf of Mexico Blues Project: