Gulf of Mexico, off of Louisiana
Since our flight last Friday August 19 where we documented surface oil and globules near the site of the Deepwater Horizon Macondo well explosion in April 2010, others have taken boats out to the positions we recorded. They saw, smelled, and sampled just what we had seen. Scientists at Louisiana State University analyzed and pronounced it to be Louisiana "sweet crude" -- common jargon that belies its foul intrusion into the habitat of local whales, dolphins, sharks and other marine life. But both BP and the US Coast Guard say they have sent surface vessels, submersibles (ROVs), and aircraft out there continuously since our report last week. They report that they have seen nothing, that "there is no scientific evidence" of any oil in the Macondo Prospect. Are they flying and sailing with eyes and nose closed?
We are not trying to dramatize here. Certainly the sheens and globules we've documented are not as expansive as what we documented all last summer. But isn't oil that shows up over large areas on the surface of water that is several thousand feet deep more than a minor seep? Grant us the right to a bit of distrust and caution, for where there is this, could there not soon be a bigger fissure or crack to come? And with hurricane season upon us, are we not prudent to ask for all precautions possible at this time?
This is more editorializing than we usually allow ourselves here. On to the facts and photos and videos from two flights made Thursday and Friday, August 25 and 26. Both days had rough seas and below-average sky and water visibilities; Friday August 26 was particularly bad. Storms since last Friday August 19 had definitely changed things, but as you'll see below, we had little trouble finding surface oil sheen and floating globules again around the Macondo site.
Thursday August 25:
To the Thunderhorse PDQ rig, the Macondo site, and back to New Orleans along the eastern coastline.
Friday August 26:
To the Macondo site to guide a private vessel to obtain oil samples.
Thursday's flight was a long one, in order to check out the giant "Thunderhorse PDQ" BP-ExxonMobil platform (Production and Drilling, with crew Quarters) that sits well over 100 miles from nearest land in over 6000' of water. News reports and satellite images had shown large areas of sheen in this area last week. Enroute there we saw many large tankers and oil rigs and large supply vessels. At the Macondo site we again found sheen and globules. And on the way home we were surprised to find a very large area of thick sheen in the wetlands area northeast of Venice! Photos and details below.
Friday's flight was made in order to direct a boat with scientists and oil sampling equipment to the oil we've been seeing out at the Macondo well for the past week. Even though Friday's flight had no photographers or spotters on board, we had no problem finding the oil even with the rough seas and very poor flight visibility -- it was harder to see the boat than it was to spot the oil! All we had was an inexpensive point-and-shoot digital camera, but you'll see what we saw well enough. Photos and details below.
Remember that you can download all of our aircraft GPS flight tracks with all metadata for waypoints. Just go to the main menu item "Flight Tracks" and download the flight files you want.
Thursday 2011 August 25
(See flight log transcribed below for details of gps waypoint numbers, lat/longs, and objects seen.)
Many thanks to Gulf Restoration Network photographer Jonathan Henderson for flying with us again today and sharing his photos! We'll post the link to all of his photos as soon as he gets them up.
Flying toward Port Fourchon we saw several shrimpers, all with their nets down. We didn't have to go more than 50 nm offshore to find some very large tankers -- registered in the Bahamas, Singapore, and Malaysia. The Bahamas-registered one had large bold lettering just below their bridge: "SAFETY FIRST".
NOTE: Unless noted, no photos or video provided by On Wings Of Care are "photoshopped" or otherwise altered in any way that could degrade accurate interpretation of what we observed.
Aside from some lines of old sargassum south of this area, and several wide (~150 meters) west-to-east lines of sheen in the vicinity of the Thunder Horse area (gps #9133 below -- sorry, these photos did not come out well), all we saw from here to ThunderHorse area and then northeastward until halfway back to the Macondo well were more platforms and tankers and supply vessels! Here is a gallery of representative objects from that part of the flight (gps waypoints 9129--9137).
But now things picked up, for we saw sperm whales! At first they were about 50 meters apart, but we watched them come together and realized we were looking at what appeared to be a mom and good-sized calf. A playful young one, too, going from one side of mom to the other, about one-third her length. That raised our spirits some. It just seems worth it to fly hundreds of miles over water to see these magnificent creatures. The tankers and platforms? Not so much.
Okay, fun was over, it was back to platforms, tankers, and supply vessels all the way to the Macondo -- where we did find oil again! But first, here are photos of these steel monsters.
OIL! Again. Despite the rough seas and misty air, we found the sheen and the globules pretty easily. The patches were not as expansive as a week ago; clearly the intervening storms and rough seas had changed and moved things quite a bit. The globules seemed less big around and less deep; in fact, it appeared to be more of a surface phenomena than it had on our August 19 flight. But here are some photos of what we saw, all taken around 3pm (CDT) Thursday, gps waypoints 9143-9145. We reported this to the US Coast Guard on Thursday evening (incident report #987286), and when they telephoned back to follow up, we emailed them all of the gps coordinates and all of these photos.
AND MORE OIL -- on our shores now? Well, this was not a pretty surprise. We were so happy to see the Louisiana wetlands in front of us again, we had just passed Venice marina on our left. And what was that big ugly rainbow blob? We had no idea. Of course we reported this to the US Coast Guard as well, same incident report (#987286), and emailed them these photos as well. It was not there when we flew again on Friday. Who knows?
The flight logs for both days, August 25 and 26, are appended at the very bottom of this article.
*******************************************
Friday 2011 August 26
(See flight log transcribed below for details of gps waypoint numbers, lat/longs, and objects seen.)
This "quick run" out to the Macondo site -- to help the sampling boat find oil to take back to their labs for analysis -- brought very rough seas and extremely poor visibility. We were also unable to find photographers or spotters to join, so I was pretty nervous at the start that all the expense of the boat going out there could be for naught if I couldn't find the oil that no doubt had been moved all over the place in this weather. And if I did find it, who would believe what they might be able to see with me holding my $100 point-and-shoot camera while maneuvering the airplane? Luck was with us, however. As I was about to start the plane, I saw a fellow instructor pilot land, waved him over and he said "Sure, I'll come along!" Now with two pairs of eyes, we headed off.
Not even past the bird's foot Delta, we saw lots of streamers of organic material, and more of those sheets of dark reddish-brown stuff everywhere. Shrimpers in the midst of some of it -- eek, do they know what's around them? (gps waypoint #9147).
The sampling boat sailed directly to the positions we had given them, so when we arrived they were already hard at work collecting samples. They said the odor was overpowering. We took off to do some more scouting around, east to another large platform the "Deepwater Horizon Nautilus" and then back south and west in a big circle. (Sorry no photos of that, they were too lousy.) Not wanting to make the boat travel too far, we returned northward to search for oil closer to where the boat already was, and we quickly found another long line of sheen and several patches of the round rainbow- and brown-colored globules. We called the boat over and and they collected samples there as well. Both of these areas were small compared to all we had seen in the previous flights, but it was plenty for them to fill some of their jars. In fact, they wished they had large metal buckets so they could have taken an entire globule. Here are some photos of what it looked like from above, so you can get a sense of scale relative to the 33'-long boat. Note the one photo in here of the oil as viewed from the boat. These are all from gps waypoints 9148-9149.
On our way back from the Macondo site, we came across a large NOAA boat, the McArthur II. We couldn't tell what they were doing, but we hope they weren't out there looking for the reported oil, because they were a long ways from it! (gps waypoint 9150.)
*******************************************
FLIGHT LOGS
FLIGHT LOG FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 25:
20110826 Thursday, OWOC Gulf Flight 2 for oil near Macondo, Flight Log
9128: N29° 13.884', W090° 18.367, 1789'agl, 1220 CDT
Two shrimp boats, nets down
Port Fourchon -- another shrimper, just northwest of the port.
More shrimpers at ~N28° 25', W090° 28', nets down.
9129: N28° 19.627', W090° 29.960', 1068'agl, 1250 CDT.
3a. -- Red vessel/tanker plus 2 more large tankers and 1 smaller supply-type vessel to the southwest ~1nm.
Says TK SPT Explorer, NASSAU. Anchored.
Large print below bridge is "SAFETY FIRST".
3b. -- The two larger ones (plus a supply vessel):
1. Supply vessel
2. MAERSK NAUTICA, has a white star on light blue, SINGAPORE, IMO 9323948.
3. BUNGA KASTURI LIMA, Port Kelang. IMO 9327114.
9130: N28° 10.416', W090° 35.736', 665'agl, 1301 CDT.
Tanker - Barcarolle - Monrovia. Also much old sargassum here.
9131: N27° 40.056', W090° 45.788', 1786' agl, 1317 CDT.
Lines of sargassum and wind rows east-to-west
9132: N27° 28.502', W090° 55.257', 770'agl, 1325 CDT.
Platform ENSCO 8502
9133: N27° 25.866', W090° 52.533', 1528'agl, 1328 CDT.
Lines of sheen, approx four, each ~150 m wide, west to east.
9134: N27° 18.692', W090° 44.257', 1356' agl, 1334 CDT.
2 Platforms + 1 large (drilling?) platform with very wide base - Transocean "Discoverer Clear Leader" - Chevron and TransOcean insignias around its name. Large supply boat nearby.
9135: N27° 38.759', W090° 11.365', 884' agl, 1355 CDT.
1 platform - "Diamond Offhshore - Ocean Victory" + 1 ship, "Iron Horse"
9136: N27° 59.221', W089° 48.019', 1478' agl, 1412 CDT.
Sargassum lines and win rows, plus a convergence line, south-to-north
9137: N28° 17.488', W089° 25.416', 736' agl, 1428 CDT.
Large ship, red bottom and yellow top "K. AMBER - PANAMA". Five bays with retractable hatches, the middle one was open.
(lost this waypoint, but just south of 9138):
Two sperm whales, mom and calf!
9138: N28° 19.718', W089° 21.579' 653' agl, 1435 CDT.
Large vessel underway, "Normand Clipper"
9139: N28° 22.002', W089° 18.278', 1192' agl, 1437 CDT.
Tanker, anchored. (No photos)
9140: N28° 26.681', W089° 00.904', 949' agl, 1448 CDT.
Large platform, red legs, and to its left/north, 2 ships, each with cranes.
"Olympic Challenger - AKER Yards, Aker ROV O2 CD" and "Chicksaw".
9141: N28° 34.936', W088° 46.521', 1207' agl, 1456 CDT.
Single sperm whale
9142: N28° 40.897', W088° 29.990', 413' agl, 1507 CDT.
Supply vessel - "Sarah Bordelon"
9143: N28° 44.449', W088° 22.`66', 644' agl, 1512 CDT.
GLOBULES! plus a ship, "Grant Candies", with a MacGregor crane
9144: N28° 42,178', W088° 06.520', 556' agl, 1524 CDT.
GLOBULES
9145: N28° 42.637', W088° 06.561', 489' agl, 1526 CDT.
Line of globules and sheen
9146: N29° 31.978', W089° 34.413', 787' agl, 1625 CDT.
Large round spot of oil and brown red stuff !! and a shrimp boat just one mile north-northeast of it!
FLIGHT LOG FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 26
20110826-Flight Log over Gulf to Macondo to spot for oil sampling boat
9147: N29° 17.066, W088° 55.709', 891' gal, 1101 CDT
Lots of light-colored streamers, algae or mats? Shrimper in it! Dragging his nets through it! ~1-nm long sheets of it, about 100 yards wide, about five of them.
9148: N28° 42.206' W088° 06.438', 800'agl, 1148 CDT
Globs, a trail of them. Boat sampled these.
(Lost this gps waypoint, but it was east of the Macondo well slightly):
Transocean Deepwater Horizon Nautilus platform, plus two large supply vessels -- the C Rover and C Leader.
9149: N28° 32.491' W088° 04.404', 672' agl, 1206 CDT.
Second track of globules, extensive sampling.
9150: N28° 46.243', W088° 28.829', 507' agl, 1300 CDT.
NOAA vessel, McArthur II.
Pellie Lou!
"The Story of Pellie Lou - a Pelican who survived the Gulf of Mexico oil spill"
by Bonny L. Schumaker, Ph.D.
With 46 photos from the Gulf of Mexico.
ALL proceeds go to benefit Gulf wildlife!
Order your autographed hard copies or an electronic copy here!
Follow Our Flights!
You can track our paths for several days after them, when we keep our GPS "SPOT" transmitter on "Track" mode. For the latest flights, see
For our latest journeys see (Track our flights).
Read about our rescues under Rescue Tails!
Here are some samples:
A Dog Named Pepper Doesn't Give up Easily on Life!
20130428 - This 15-yr-old deaf, blind, arthritic senior held out in a hot, dry, desert parking lot until love finally found him!
CHAZ - No Ordinary Extraordinary Cur!
20130422 - Left to die but instead, this super-intelligent deep-hearted dog discovered love, family, and even fun -- from the most unlikely mentors!
Turbulent Trails for Tails from TX-20130413
Six rescue dogs from east Texas find forever homes in Nevada and California!
Skip the Wonder Sled Dog - 20120930
Happy Update! 20130312
Last but not left! 20130106
Happy Update - 20130311!
20121223-Thanks to Sheba, the rescued and rescuer
Who was rescued, and who was the rescuer? Anyone who has known this kind of bond has felt something so deep, so real, so ancient, that it cannot be described with words. These bonds ground us and free us from pettiness in our lives. Thank you Sheba. Rest in peace.
A Letter From Your Admirers! 20121231
20121208- 43 Dogs go from dead-end in Porterville to homes and happy hearts!
This was a last-minute challenge that seemed beyond even our own grandest heroic imaginings. But it turned out not to be beyond the devoted hearts and energies of about 30 rescuers, shelter staff, volunteers, and families working together. Forty-three (yes, 43!) dogs in one day, from dead-ends in a Porterville shelter to homes and real lives with real humans who love and want them. Rescuers ROCK! 
20121206-Saga of Squee: From orphan with mange to her own fur-ever family!
Orphaned very young, left alone and hungry til her fur fell out and her skin was covered with mange. Thanks to some big-hearted Texas rescuers, not only did she recover, she found the family who wanted to love her forever. How glad we were to be able to give this little pup with the big paws the ride to the rest of her life! 
20121205-Blackie Goes Home at Last, and Taylor Turns Texan!
Four long months since Blackie's lifelong human companion and partner Tammy suffered a serious injury from a passing truck and disappeared from his life. Suddenly Blackie was in a shelter kennel, and Tammy fought for her life as she dreamed of her beloved dog. Thanks to many people, both of these souls survived to find each other again! This was a rescue and a reunion we'll never forget.
Miss T'Chen was lost in Hurricane Isaac, and saved 800 miles away!
2012 Oct 02
The same rains that made us work "On WHEELS Of Care" this week kept us grounded for this trip, which serendipitously combined the transport of Skip northward and the joyful and miraculous reunion of Miss T'Chen, who had been rescued and taken to Illinois after Hurricane Isaac, with her family in Baton Rouge!
This flight went almost as planned, and our plane was filled to over-flowing on every leg. And we met some wonderful new cat and dog rescues in Idaho and Oregon!
20 Lucky rescued dogs flown to homes in Canada!
2012 Sep 22
It turned out to a journey full of unexpected challenges, but these 20 lucky lovable canines who had been through the worst of times in California were just the best through it all, and now they are warming the hearts and laps and lives of some very lucky Canadian families! 
Spindletop Scandal and the Search for Scarlett
2012 July 17 - present
With pitbull-like tenacity, we wouldn't take "NO" for an answer. Out of 21 dogs we sought, we have closure on all but two. Alas, one of those two is our Scarlett. 
Tale of seven cities, six cats, and five goats!
2012 July 16
Who knows if the pleas for help brought the plane, or vice-versa.
But when serendipity puts this much together, there's no saying no!
Homeless Mom and Pups no More!
2012 July 08
Sometimes rescuers find the IDEAL person to adopt that animal in need ...
themselves! And in the process, a hole gets filled for the entire family.
This lucky mom now lives with Bear, Sheba, and Dave!
From Empty Nest to Love Fest!
2012 May 11
That last urgent plea came for the five orphaned pups ...
but what about the two large senior boys who would probably never get adopted?
Some people are just angels, meant to be who they are and where they are.
Check out these two and their new happy pack!
JEREMIAH has come home to us!
UPDATE 2012 July 7!
2012 January 13
His adopter called to say she had become ill, and could we care for Jeremiah? You bet we could. We rented a plane and flew to Arizona and retrieved him immediately. Jeremiah was indeed a true friend, and we aim to be his true friends, too. He has been eating like crazy and slept his stress away for the first few days, and now he's acting like a young dog again. Read more here! 
CHAMP found at the airport!
2012 January 01
A sad, scared but dignified young Champ quickly won the hearts of everyone who met him at the New Orleans airport, and within two days we had permission from his original breeders to give him to a young couple with a younger female boxer mix, all of whom fell totally in love with him at first sight! Champ and Miss Princess are leading the good life now, and Champ's new dad finally has the fishing buddy he wanted! They tell us we made their dreams come true. We think they made Champ's come true, too.
Abby & Dinozo -- Two of a Kind!
2011 September--2012 January
Orphaned brother and sister, rescued and adored until calamity struck and they lost their family. Orphaned again, these gentle gems and perfect canine citizens found love and adventure with us until we found them their true forever home! Abby & Dinozo came with us to Washington January 7, and they were welcomed warmly and immediately into a home. Read more here! 
Yo! Get a Load of Yolo!
2011 November--2012 January
Left in the cold, high in the mountains of southern California, life was over before it had barely begun for this orphan teenager.
Little did he know, his adventures had only begun! As of January 7, it's back to snow but this time with a family who adores him, and lots of fun and play in the Pacific Northwest!
Saving Scarlett -- Love Forever at Last!
2011 August--December
Found on the streets, teats full but puppies absent, a battle-torn very hungry pitbull.
Hardly that sought-after doggie in the window.
But after we brought Miss Scarlett home to love and food, warmth and stuffed animals,
we discovered a warm heart and sweet spirit that changed us forever.
Gunner and Cain - A Very, Very Long Journey Home and the Happiest Reunion Ever!
2011 July--September 29, A Joyful Reunion At Last!
Here they are during their flight with four other dogs Sep 29 (New Orleans to Oakland, CA, fuel stop in Roswell, NM). .JPG)
And here's a photo from the happiest reunion ever!
More photos and updated videos here!
Ten dogs from death row to Canada!
Sheba-Cosette - this lovely lady waited a lifetime!
(2011 June) 
Jeremiah - a true friend finds a new lease on life!
(2011 May) 
Two Giant Dogs & three cats reunited with their family on Whidbey Island, WA
(2011 April)
Chihuahuas "Betty" & "JellyBean" fly to their rescue in Bremerton, WA!
(2011 April)
New Year's Rescue: 33 dogs & cats are flown to rescue in the Pacific Northwest!
(2011 January)
Hounds fending for themselves for years in Alabama fly to rescue in Arizona!
(2011 Mar)
Romo & Stanley are flown to safe havens in Arizona!
(2011 Mar)
Aerial Monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico - 2013
Site Search
NEWS!
Aerial Monitoring of the Gulf - 2013
Tue Apr 02 - OIL
Sat Mar 16 - OIL
Fri Mar 08 - OIL
Sun Feb 17 - Coal&Oil
Sun Jan 27 - OIL
Sun Jan 20 - OIL
Fri Jan 04 - OIL
Special Articles
2013 Apr 12 - Mayflower, AR Pipeline Spill
2013 Apr 02 - Bayou Corne #6
2013 Mar 23 - IMMS Marine Mammals
2013 Mar 19 - Bayou Corne Sinkhole-#5
2013 Feb 15 - Bayou Corne Sinkhole-#4
2013 Jan 26 - Bayou Corne Sinkhole-#3
2012 Dec 24 - Bayou Corne Sinkhole-#2
2012 Nov 08 - Tar Sands and Texas
2012 Aug 30 - Hurricane Isaac Conquered
2012 Aug 28 - Hurricane Isaac Arrives!
2012 Aug 13 - Sinkhole in Bayou Corne, LA
2012 Jun 13-Dispersant Spraying Exercise off LA
2012 April - Chronicles of the Endeavor
2012 Dec 10 - How Dilute is Dilute Enough?
Aerial Monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico - 2012
Sat Nov 17 - Platform Explosion
Wed Nov 14 - Barrier Islands 1
Sat Nov 10 - OIL
Fri Nov 09 - OIL
Sat Oct 06 - Whale Sharks
Fri Oct 05 - OIL
Fri Sep 14 - OIL
Sun Sep 09 - Hurricane Isaac
Sun Aug 12 - Whale Sharks
Wed Jul 11 - Whales & More
Fri Jun 29 - Whale Sharks & More
Dominica - The Nature Island!
Aerial Monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico - 2011
OIL:
Fri Dec 30
Tue Dec 20
Fri Dec 09
Sat Nov 12
Sun Sep 25
Wed Sep 21
Thu Sep 15
Tue Sep 13 - USCG
Sun Sep 11
Sat Sep 10
Wed Sep 07
Tue Aug 30
Thu-Fri Aug 25-26
Fri Aug 19
Fri Jul 01
Thu Jun 16
Sat May 14
Fri May 06
Thu Apr 21
Sat Mar 26
Wed Mar 23
Tue Mar 22
Mon Mar 21
Sun Mar 20
Sat Mar 19
Fri Mar 18
Sperm Whales & Whale Sharks:
2011 Sep 25, Sun
2011 Sep 15, Thu
2011 Sep 11, Sun
2011 June
Humpback Whales!
Our Gift for YOU for 2011!
Click Here to Smile
from your heart, out! 
Aerial Monitoring of the Gulf, 2010
Galapagos Veterinary Support
Galapagos vets do much with little,
thanks to true friends who shipped a TON of supplies and meds from the U.S. in June, 2011.
Alabama
2011 April --
“Man can no longer live for himself alone. We must realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe.”
-Albert Schweitzer
