[TAG] New web site

[Mike Orr]

Benjamin A. Okopnik wrote:

>shows the flood depths for NO - I can see where that kind of map would
>be tremendously useful to, say, the Corps of Engineers as they decide
>where the portable pumps need to be located.
>  
>


You wouldn't believe how desirable depth measurements are right now, or 
how difficult to get.  I can't remember the details, but they were 
trying to get three depth telemeters shipped to the city, but decided it 
would be easier to just paint the feet in alternating colors on the 
sides of buildings.


>>There are some three hundred discharges in the Gulf, some large and some 
>>small.  They're only starting to be surveyed.
>>    
>>
>
>[nod] That was the part nobody had mentioned in the media - I thought
>about it as soon as Katrina happened. There are thousands of oil
>platforms out there, many of them unlit, which makes night sailing in
>the Gulf one of the most dangerous, reckless, and nerve-wracking things
>you could do.  If they can't afford to even light their towers, how much
>reliance can you put into them standing up to a Cat 5 hurricane?
>  
>


There was an early report of two hundred of those jobbies drifting, and 
I knew it was just a matter of time before they hit a ship.  But I 
didn't know how many ships were in the area.  Nobody was surveying the 
damage because first you have to help the people, and that would take a 
week or two.   There are two regional scientists studying the spills, 
but that's like cleaning a floor with a toothbrush.  The biggest problem 
in bringing more people is finding accommodations: there are no hotel 
rooms in Baton Rouge or even an empty trailer within a 500-mile radius.  
They scrapped sending somebody coz he'd have to sleep on a table, and 
that's no way to sleep when you're working 13-hour days.  One guy who 
was sent down there said, "My desk is a couple of boxes."  But rooms are 
starting to open up, so it should be better in a few days. 

What I'm really wondering is, how much of the marine life is left?  
There's a sanctuary (=region with protected species/coral reefs) south 
of the TX/LA border, although I hear it 's far enough away it seems to 
have escape damage.
http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/images/flowergardens.gif
http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/about/intro.html

I've never seen the Gulf or its oil derricks, just heard about them.  Is 
the coast a popular place for fish and whales and the like, or have they 
already been driven away by the drilling? 

BTW, Ben, the biggest and most active sanctuary is in your neck of the 
woods.  Well, I guess the Keys are pretty far from you, but...
http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/oms/omsflorida/omsflorida.html
http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/

I only know this stuff coz I did an earlier site for the sanctuaries 
biologists.  (Not these sites.)  There are thirteen marine santuaries 
around the US, including the one closest to me, the Olympic Coast sanctuary.
http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/