Featured Issue: Gulf Oil Disaster
Oil Spill Update through 8.25.10
8.10.10 SouthWings flew with PDX2 Gulf: Oregonians Supporting their Gulf Coast Neighbors. View below the excellent video and a discussion with pilot Tom Hutchings. The flight occurred in conjunction with a Gulf Coast tour with Below the Surface, another SouthWings partner, who requested the flight.
8.25.10 Photographer Gerry Ellis posted the article, Above the Gulf, about his flight experience on Monday, 8.23.10 with SouthWings pilot Lance Rydberg.
The current edition of Audubon Magazine, Sept-October 2010, features a special issue on the Gulf disaster with an article by Ted Williams, "Black Bayou". SouthWings pilot Hap Endler flew with Ted on June 16th in Louisiana. Ted references his flight in the article.
8.21.10 The Red Mountain Post ran the article "SouthWings Flight: NWF Flyover Finds Discolorations in Chandeleur Sound"
Below is a video from John Wathen presented at the Alabama Wild and Scenic Film Festival on August 19. The event was hosted by Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Alabama Environmental Council. The video includes numerous shots from SouthWings flights.
Visit the BP Oil Slick Blog for more information and photographs on the oil spill.
Oil Spill Update through 8.19.10
Coastal Living Magazine blog of interview with Tom Hutchings
Coastal Living Editor's Trip to the Gulf: Photo-Log
National Wildlife Federation, Unraveling a Mystery in the Gulf
Oil Spill Update through 8.13.10
SouthWings continues to do flights on the Gulf oil disaster to monitor recovery efforts and provide a valuable perspective on inaccessible locations. Though the BP oil well has thankfully been capped and the media is moving on to other news stories, this disaster remains the worst environmental disaster in US history and will have long reaching effects into the future. Please join us in remembering, as we go through our daily lives, the coastal communities and the animals whose worlds have been turned upside down by this ecological tragedy. Our individual choices matter and will affect how the future unfolds as we move forward and recover.
8.11.10 Newsvine.com: Oil Everywhere - Gulf Coast Oil
Photos posted from flight with pilot Tom Hutchings on 8.10.10.
PDX 2 Gulf Coast: SouthWings Flyover and The Spill from Above
Article from flight with pilot Tom Hutchings on 8.10.10. Wend Beyond Adventure: Flying Over the Spill Now
8.10.10 Huffington Post: Where’s the Oil? Here, There, and Everywhere
Article from flight on 8.8.10 with pilot Dan Luke. Huffington Post: As Turtle Toll Tops 1,000, NWF Overflight Finds Mystery Discolorations
Oil Spill Update through 7.26.10
7.25.10 article in Huffington Post, "Oil Water and Video"
7.20.10 article in the Institute for Southern Studies entitled "New Air Data Analysis Shows Ongoing Public Health Threat from Gulf Oil Disaster "
7.15.10 flight photos from photographer Matthew White for the Gulf Restoration Network
Oil Spill Update through 7.3.10
On 7.3.10 SouthWings flew with photographer Gary Braasch of World View of Global Warming. View his article and images.
On 7.2.10 SouthWings flew with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper and the American Birding Association. See their article and video post here.
On 6.23.10 SouthWings pilot Dan Luke flew Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. while he was in Mobile, AL for a fundraiser for the Waterkeeper Alliance with Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of famed ocean expert Jacques Cousteau. Pilot Dan Luke had flown Philippe (left in photo below with Mobile Baykeeper Casey Calloway and pilot Dan Luke) on 6.16.10 as part of the Larry King Live telethon for the Gulf. Footage from that flight was shown during the telethon. View the current issue of Waterkeeper Magazine for numerous Gulf oil images from SouthWings' flights by Waterkeeper John Wathen, including the cover.
On 6.23.10 The UN Leader’s Summit met to discuss global issues. The opening video they saw included footage from a SouthWings flight, Who Cares Wins.
On 6.22.10 Blue Ridge Now publishes article about SouthWings’ trip to New Orleans from June 15-18, Scope of Spill Stuns SouthWings. Also, the Mountain Xpress in Asheville published the article, Asheville-based Southwings flights over Gulf oil disaster net photos and videos.
On 6.21.10 SouthWings flew with the Blue Frontier Campaign’s president David Helvarg who posted to Mother Nature Network an article, “How bad is the oil spill? Flight Sheds Light on Magnitude of Disaster.”
On 6.17.10 SouthWings flew with the Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines to document the southwestern coastline of Louisiana where oil has not yet hit. View the images here. You need Google Earth to view as the images are geo-tagged and linked with location on the flight route.
6.23.10 — WLOS ABC 13 News Top Story — "Asheville conservation group SouthWings lets local residents see environmental disasters from a birds-eye view. Volunteers on board a recent gulf coast flight, say the magnitude of the oil spill is devastating. They say seeing it from up in the air, puts it in perspective."
June 21, 2010 — John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper, took the shots (seen above) of the BP oil spill while flying over the Gulf with SouthWings.
June 11, 2010 — SouthWings flight with WKRG Mobile-Pensacola to look at the Gulf oil disaster
June 07, 2010 — Going on a tip from Sky Truth, world renowned photographer Henry Fair, SouthWings pilot Tom Hutchings and Hurricane Creekkeeper, John L. Wathen flew a photo mission over the BP Slick and beyond. At about 12 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River we encountered another leaking oil rig!
June 06, 2010- "Gulf of Mexico Disaster from the Air: How vast is the oil spill?" This view from the air gives you a sense of just how large and pervasive the oil spill is. Green Fire flew out to the source of the oil spill with SouthWings volunteer pilot, Tom Hutchings. Sound by Jack Thorndike.
Oil Spill Update 6.3.10
Photo: Green Fire Productions
Photo: Green Fire Productions
SouthWings Flight with J. Henry Fair, 6.2.10
SouthWings Flight with Green Fire Productions, 6.1.10
SouthWings flight with Audubon Magazine on 5.27.10
SouthWings' Partners in the News on the Gulf Disaster
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Flies Over Gulf Spill
Photographer Jeffrey Dubinsky’s pictures from Gulf Restoration Network Flight
National Wildlife Federation hired a helicopter to look at oil impact to wetlands
Oil Spill Update 5.27.10
SouthWings Pilot Tom Hutchings interviewed on NPR
Hurricane Creekkeeper flies with SouthWings pilot
Oil Spill Update 5.21.10
Photos above from Mobile Baykeeper flight on 5.7.10
See photos from Mobile Baykeeper flight on 5.18.10
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.20.10:
Dean Wilson flight pictures from 5.14.10
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.18.2010
Articles, photos, and blogs from recent flights:
Waterkeeper Alliance website features John Wathen's flight pictures and posting from Mobile Baykeeper Casi Calloway from her 5.18.10 flight with Dan Luke
Photos from John Wathen, flight 5.17.10 with pilot Tom Hutchings
Grand Bayou Community United posted pictures from their flight on 5.7.10. Click on the link West Bay of Southwest Pass, Plaquemines, LA to read about their experience and see their photos.
Defenders of Wildlife blog from 5.7.10 flight and map of areas vulnerable to the spill.
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.12.2010:
Throughout this week, SouthWings' volunteer pilots continue to take an unprecedented number of flights to assist in responding to the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Many thanks to Tom Hutchings, Dan Luke, Bob Kuehlthau, Richard McGlaughlin, Brian Williams, and so many others for your commitment to flying this issue!
Articles, photos, and blogs from recent flights:
Gulf Restoration Network blog and photos, flight May 10
Another GRN Blog about flight: Oil Slick Nears Ship Island, flight May 5
Aerial photos from John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper, flight May 7
Blog about oil spill mentions SouthWings
The Gulf Appears to be Bleeding, Huffington Post article
BP's Deepwater Horizon Oil Slick Making Landfall, Locust Fork News-Journal, flight May 7
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.7.2010:
SouthWings' volunteer pilots have been taking an unprecedented number of flights to assist in responding to the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Articles and blogs from recent flights:
Bloomberg News, flight 5.4.10
Gulf Restoration Network blog post and photos from flight, 5.5.10
Blog post and photos from flight by John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper. 5.4.10
Huffington Post article mentioning SouthWings flights.
Another blog post mentioning evidence from SouthWings flights.
All photos: courtesy Gulf Restoration Network/Southwings
BREAKING NEWS 4.28: As of April 28 the Coast Guard is reporting a new leak that increases the volume of oil flowing into the Gulf to five times the original estimate, now at 210,000 gallons of oil a day or 5,000 barrels. The average US citizen consumes 2.8 gallons of petroleum a day. The amount of oil now polluting the Gulf EACH DAY is equivalent to the consumption of a small city of 75,000 people or a city the size of Asheville, NC. In addition to this news, the Army Corps of Engineers is implementing an experimental controlled burn of the oil to try and stop it from reaching the coast. When the oil reaches the coastline it will imperil estuaries, inlets and precious wetlands that are the breeding grounds for birds, shellfish, wildlife, fish, etc.
Flying with the Gulf Restoration Network on Sunday, April 25, SouthWings Pilot Tom Hutchings took Aaron Viles, GRN Campaign Director, to look at the oil slick generated from the April 20th disastrous explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The oil platform broke from the drilling pipe and sank. The pipe is exposed and spewing 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. Read about GRN's experience.
The headlines are devastating, but this is an opportunity to reconsider opening up our coasts to oil drilling.
In SouthWings' service area, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia are all considering offshore drilling options. This developing disaster in the Gulf is an opportunity for pause, consideration and discussion on the issue of offshore drilling.
SouthWings anticipates more flights on this issue. We invite you to join in the discussion on offshore drilling and visit the website often for updates.
8.10.10 SouthWings flew with PDX2 Gulf: Oregonians Supporting their Gulf Coast Neighbors. View below the excellent video and a discussion with pilot Tom Hutchings. The flight occurred in conjunction with a Gulf Coast tour with Below the Surface, another SouthWings partner, who requested the flight.
8.25.10 Photographer Gerry Ellis posted the article, Above the Gulf, about his flight experience on Monday, 8.23.10 with SouthWings pilot Lance Rydberg.
The current edition of Audubon Magazine, Sept-October 2010, features a special issue on the Gulf disaster with an article by Ted Williams, "Black Bayou". SouthWings pilot Hap Endler flew with Ted on June 16th in Louisiana. Ted references his flight in the article.
8.21.10 The Red Mountain Post ran the article "SouthWings Flight: NWF Flyover Finds Discolorations in Chandeleur Sound"
Below is a video from John Wathen presented at the Alabama Wild and Scenic Film Festival on August 19. The event was hosted by Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Alabama Environmental Council. The video includes numerous shots from SouthWings flights.
Visit the BP Oil Slick Blog for more information and photographs on the oil spill.
Oil Spill Update through 8.19.10
Coastal Living Magazine blog of interview with Tom Hutchings
Coastal Living Editor's Trip to the Gulf: Photo-Log
National Wildlife Federation, Unraveling a Mystery in the Gulf
Oil Spill Update through 8.13.10
SouthWings continues to do flights on the Gulf oil disaster to monitor recovery efforts and provide a valuable perspective on inaccessible locations. Though the BP oil well has thankfully been capped and the media is moving on to other news stories, this disaster remains the worst environmental disaster in US history and will have long reaching effects into the future. Please join us in remembering, as we go through our daily lives, the coastal communities and the animals whose worlds have been turned upside down by this ecological tragedy. Our individual choices matter and will affect how the future unfolds as we move forward and recover.
8.11.10 Newsvine.com: Oil Everywhere - Gulf Coast Oil
Photos posted from flight with pilot Tom Hutchings on 8.10.10.
PDX 2 Gulf Coast: SouthWings Flyover and The Spill from Above
Article from flight with pilot Tom Hutchings on 8.10.10. Wend Beyond Adventure: Flying Over the Spill Now
8.10.10 Huffington Post: Where’s the Oil? Here, There, and Everywhere
Article from flight on 8.8.10 with pilot Dan Luke. Huffington Post: As Turtle Toll Tops 1,000, NWF Overflight Finds Mystery Discolorations
Oil Spill Update through 7.26.10
7.25.10 article in Huffington Post, "Oil Water and Video"
7.20.10 article in the Institute for Southern Studies entitled "New Air Data Analysis Shows Ongoing Public Health Threat from Gulf Oil Disaster "
7.15.10 flight photos from photographer Matthew White for the Gulf Restoration Network
Oil Spill Update through 7.3.10
On 7.3.10 SouthWings flew with photographer Gary Braasch of World View of Global Warming. View his article and images.
On 7.2.10 SouthWings flew with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper and the American Birding Association. See their article and video post here.
On 6.23.10 SouthWings pilot Dan Luke flew Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. while he was in Mobile, AL for a fundraiser for the Waterkeeper Alliance with Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of famed ocean expert Jacques Cousteau. Pilot Dan Luke had flown Philippe (left in photo below with Mobile Baykeeper Casey Calloway and pilot Dan Luke) on 6.16.10 as part of the Larry King Live telethon for the Gulf. Footage from that flight was shown during the telethon. View the current issue of Waterkeeper Magazine for numerous Gulf oil images from SouthWings' flights by Waterkeeper John Wathen, including the cover.
On 6.23.10 The UN Leader’s Summit met to discuss global issues. The opening video they saw included footage from a SouthWings flight, Who Cares Wins.
On 6.22.10 Blue Ridge Now publishes article about SouthWings’ trip to New Orleans from June 15-18, Scope of Spill Stuns SouthWings. Also, the Mountain Xpress in Asheville published the article, Asheville-based Southwings flights over Gulf oil disaster net photos and videos.
On 6.21.10 SouthWings flew with the Blue Frontier Campaign’s president David Helvarg who posted to Mother Nature Network an article, “How bad is the oil spill? Flight Sheds Light on Magnitude of Disaster.”
On 6.17.10 SouthWings flew with the Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines to document the southwestern coastline of Louisiana where oil has not yet hit. View the images here. You need Google Earth to view as the images are geo-tagged and linked with location on the flight route.
6.23.10 — WLOS ABC 13 News Top Story — "Asheville conservation group SouthWings lets local residents see environmental disasters from a birds-eye view. Volunteers on board a recent gulf coast flight, say the magnitude of the oil spill is devastating. They say seeing it from up in the air, puts it in perspective."
June 21, 2010 — John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper, took the shots (seen above) of the BP oil spill while flying over the Gulf with SouthWings.
June 11, 2010 — SouthWings flight with WKRG Mobile-Pensacola to look at the Gulf oil disaster
June 07, 2010 — Going on a tip from Sky Truth, world renowned photographer Henry Fair, SouthWings pilot Tom Hutchings and Hurricane Creekkeeper, John L. Wathen flew a photo mission over the BP Slick and beyond. At about 12 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River we encountered another leaking oil rig!
June 06, 2010- "Gulf of Mexico Disaster from the Air: How vast is the oil spill?" This view from the air gives you a sense of just how large and pervasive the oil spill is. Green Fire flew out to the source of the oil spill with SouthWings volunteer pilot, Tom Hutchings. Sound by Jack Thorndike.
Oil Spill Update 6.3.10
Photo: Green Fire Productions
Photo: Green Fire Productions
SouthWings Flight with J. Henry Fair, 6.2.10
SouthWings Flight with Green Fire Productions, 6.1.10
SouthWings flight with Audubon Magazine on 5.27.10
SouthWings' Partners in the News on the Gulf Disaster
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Flies Over Gulf Spill
Photographer Jeffrey Dubinsky’s pictures from Gulf Restoration Network Flight
National Wildlife Federation hired a helicopter to look at oil impact to wetlands
Oil Spill Update 5.27.10
SouthWings Pilot Tom Hutchings interviewed on NPR
Hurricane Creekkeeper flies with SouthWings pilot
Oil Spill Update 5.21.10
Photos above from Mobile Baykeeper flight on 5.7.10
See photos from Mobile Baykeeper flight on 5.18.10
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.20.10:
Dean Wilson flight pictures from 5.14.10
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.18.2010
Articles, photos, and blogs from recent flights:
Waterkeeper Alliance website features John Wathen's flight pictures and posting from Mobile Baykeeper Casi Calloway from her 5.18.10 flight with Dan Luke
Photos from John Wathen, flight 5.17.10 with pilot Tom Hutchings
Grand Bayou Community United posted pictures from their flight on 5.7.10. Click on the link West Bay of Southwest Pass, Plaquemines, LA to read about their experience and see their photos.
Defenders of Wildlife blog from 5.7.10 flight and map of areas vulnerable to the spill.
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.12.2010:
Throughout this week, SouthWings' volunteer pilots continue to take an unprecedented number of flights to assist in responding to the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Many thanks to Tom Hutchings, Dan Luke, Bob Kuehlthau, Richard McGlaughlin, Brian Williams, and so many others for your commitment to flying this issue!
Articles, photos, and blogs from recent flights:
Gulf Restoration Network blog and photos, flight May 10
Another GRN Blog about flight: Oil Slick Nears Ship Island, flight May 5
Aerial photos from John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper, flight May 7
Blog about oil spill mentions SouthWings
The Gulf Appears to be Bleeding, Huffington Post article
BP's Deepwater Horizon Oil Slick Making Landfall, Locust Fork News-Journal, flight May 7
OIL SPILL UPDATE 5.7.2010:
SouthWings' volunteer pilots have been taking an unprecedented number of flights to assist in responding to the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Articles and blogs from recent flights:
Bloomberg News, flight 5.4.10
Gulf Restoration Network blog post and photos from flight, 5.5.10
Blog post and photos from flight by John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper. 5.4.10
Huffington Post article mentioning SouthWings flights.
Another blog post mentioning evidence from SouthWings flights.
All photos: courtesy Gulf Restoration Network/Southwings
BREAKING NEWS 4.28: As of April 28 the Coast Guard is reporting a new leak that increases the volume of oil flowing into the Gulf to five times the original estimate, now at 210,000 gallons of oil a day or 5,000 barrels. The average US citizen consumes 2.8 gallons of petroleum a day. The amount of oil now polluting the Gulf EACH DAY is equivalent to the consumption of a small city of 75,000 people or a city the size of Asheville, NC. In addition to this news, the Army Corps of Engineers is implementing an experimental controlled burn of the oil to try and stop it from reaching the coast. When the oil reaches the coastline it will imperil estuaries, inlets and precious wetlands that are the breeding grounds for birds, shellfish, wildlife, fish, etc.
Flying with the Gulf Restoration Network on Sunday, April 25, SouthWings Pilot Tom Hutchings took Aaron Viles, GRN Campaign Director, to look at the oil slick generated from the April 20th disastrous explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The oil platform broke from the drilling pipe and sank. The pipe is exposed and spewing 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. Read about GRN's experience.
The headlines are devastating, but this is an opportunity to reconsider opening up our coasts to oil drilling.
In SouthWings' service area, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia are all considering offshore drilling options. This developing disaster in the Gulf is an opportunity for pause, consideration and discussion on the issue of offshore drilling.
SouthWings anticipates more flights on this issue. We invite you to join in the discussion on offshore drilling and visit the website often for updates.
