"S" as in Oil SPILL for Alphabe-Thursday

Welcome to Ms. Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday.  This week we are studying the letter "S" as in oil SPILL.

Just so happens we were down in Galveston earlier this week and things were pretty quiet along the waterfront.  I'm sure you probably heard about the oil SPILL on the news.  I hate hearing about oil SPILLS and their impact on fish and wildlife, but I believe things weren't as bad as they could have been along the Galveston coast.  However, it brought things to a standstill.

Three cruise ships were unable to leave port for a while.  One left earlier on Tuesday and I heard on the news that a second one was able to depart after we left.  There wasn't much going on, but the tall ship Elissa was sailing up and down in front of the dock.  She was supposed to leave on Tuesday for the first time in two years, but they said an oil sheen in the harbor forced them to postpone their departure until Friday.

I was told that the people on the third cruise ship had boarded Sunday evening, but they had just been told they could get off and get a refund and a discount on a future cruise.  The newspaper said they were still cleaning the oil off the hull and couldn't depart.

We thought we smelled oil, but water looked good to us.  We didn't notice the sheen.

We saw some small black things floating in the water.  You might be able to see what I'm talking about if you enlarge this picture by clicking on it.  Overall we didn't think it looked too bad where we were.

There are always some off shore oil rigs in for maintenance.  I thought the oil rig and the old 1887 Elissa were quite a contrast. Normally she's docked at the Texas Seaport Museum and you can go aboard.

Some oil rigs can be moved and they're towed in by tug boats.  There's a really interesting museum call the Ocean Star where you can learn about the different types of oil rigs.  In fact, the museum is on an old oil rig that's been converted.  I went years ago and it was very interesting.  I didn't think to take a picture.

Most boats were docked and tours were canceled.

The Dolphin Watch tour wasn't running.  I sure hope the dolphins are OK.  You can see them when you take the ferry across to the Bolivar Peninsula.  We thought about taking a ferry ride, but they weren't letting anyone out of their cars on the ferry because of the spill.  I'm not sure why.

They said today that all marine traffic can now move to and from the Houston/Galveston ports.  However, the fishing industry is very concerned about the impact to their industry.  They now say the SPILL is drifting toward Matagorda Bay.  This time of year there is great concern for the migratory birds.

The weather was beautiful down in Galveston and we ate outside on a deck.  It wasn't snowing.  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)  I think some of you have had snow again.  You'll get your revenge.  Soon it will be blistering hot here and we'll be hiding inside with the A/C while you're outside enjoying great temperatures.

Please head over to Jenny's blog for the list of Alphabe-Thursday participants.  Thanks for visiting.