This was taken last Sunday at Pensacola Beach, an area that in spite of BP's nightly cosmetic cleanups has been ravaged by the Deep Horizon oil gusher. This Great Heron stands among the tar balls gazing out to the sea. It was shortly before sunset, and for someone who has spent countless sunsets on the Gulf Coast, it was quite eerie. First off, he let me get much closer than he usually would. Almost like he didn't care. The screeching sounds of seagulls and other birds normal for this time of day were mostly silent because most of the birds were gone. A few stood on the sand looking out to the Gulf like this Heron, but that was about it. And the fish were gone too. Normally you can always see them out in the shallow water of the surf. The only ones we saw were half dead ones washing up. One catfish seemed to be actually trying to get out of the water. I'd toss him back in but he'd return to the water's edge. But he was so weak he couldn't even stabilize himself in the water. There's not enough oxygen in the water to support life due to the excessive use of the poison dispersants by BP. Also, the sweet gulf sea breeze smell I've known for 40 years was replaced by what resembled to be the scent of freshly poured asphalt. In spite of BP's nightly beach crawling, there were blobs of oil on the once sugar white sands. Lots of tar balls too. Step in the oil and you take it home with you. I can only wonder what is in store for this beautiful creature because even though the national media has grown tired of this story, the "spill" is actually a "gusher". It is still flowing and the nasty little secret is they have no idea how to stop it. Especially if the sea floor has cracked as suspected. Cheers, marshall