Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/oil-and-water-dont-mix/5019512/
“Welcome to Pensacola Beach,” our tourism signs visually shout at people entering our town. “Gulf Island National Seashore offers some of the most spectacular beaches in the U.S.,” exclaims another. Unfortunately, our beaches aren’t making news these days because of their white sands, but rather the spectacular environmental disaster hitting our shores. On April 20, 2010, an offshore oil-drilling platform exploded, spilling millions of gallons of oil into the gulf. From Louisiana to the Gulf Coast of Florida the effects are being felt by fisherman, shrimpers, dive charters, and other hardworking folks who depend on the water for their livelihood. But there is another population in these coastal towns who are also feeling the effects and disruption in their lives and it is the children.Children in Colorado often begin skiing as soon as they can walk and children in the northeast learn how to tap trees for maple syrup as soon as they can eat it. Here on the Gulf Coast children spend their time in and around the water. Children who live near the gulf are not shocked when they find a seashell or dolphin swimming in the water; the water and its creatures are simply a way of ...