BILD reporter Herbert Bauernebel flew over the scene of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, where the oil rig Deepwater Horizon sank last month.
The pictures are shocking: 12 million litres of oil form cast a shadows over the sea surface. Some parts are a rusty brown, others orange. 50 ships heavy freighters with helicopter platforms are anchored around the disaster area. Here is his report:
The trip began at dawn on the runway of New Orleans (USA). It is 7.12 am, we put on our lifejackets and ear defenders. The pilot Bert Lattimore (47) warns us: “Don’t lean too far out”.
The windows of the tiny helicopter ‘Raven RV 44’ have been removed, as we take off I stare out at the drop below. We fly over the Mississippi delta, where hundreds of species of animals live.
Suddenly we see smears of oil on the sea as we approach the epicentre of the spill, that the pilot calls the source over the radio.
At first only light zones can be seen, where a thin layer of the poison lies on the surface. Now and again thick layers of oil can be seen, that the wind and currents have blown into bizarre strips.
We approach the disaster area at a speed of 176 km per hour.
Just as we near what has been dubbed by environmentalists as ‘America’s Chernobyl’ the clouds part and light up the area that is poisoning the Gulf of Mexico.
“Days ago I saw four whales swimming right through the carpet of oil”, said the pilot. “One was already in difficulty, swimming on its side”.
Over the radio the pilot communicated exact positions with the surveillance planes, which hour by hour monitor and calculate the extent of the spill, as well as the planes which spray chemicals to fight the oil. He can’t do any more, said Bert. He shakes his head: “It breaks my heart”.
I circle in the helicopter at 900 metres above the ‘Ground Zero’ of theworst oil catastrophe in decades.
Exactly at this point the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on the 20. April and sank two days later.
1500 metres under the sea’s surface, 800,000 litres of oil are pouring out of three leaks into the Gulf of Mexico, every day.
It’s an awful sight: the oil shadows on the surface of the sea shine appear a rusty brown and orange. Where the oil is thinner, the sun reflects in eerie beautiful rainbow colours. The extent is overwhelming: the oil slick stretches to the horizon, in all directions.
Against this monster spill, the rescue measures look helpless.
50 ships heavy freighters with helicopter platforms are anchored around the disaster area. From there the diving robots are controlled.
From another platform the relief hole is being drilled. Two freighters capture a particularly thick oil layer with plastic barriers (booms) and tow it away from the area. But to where? The attempts to burn the slick last week were aborted, as there were no fireproof booms.
On the flight back we witness a dramatic new development. What has been feared for days is now happening.
The oil has reached the beaches of the island off the coast of Louisiana. The nature conservation paradise of the Breton island is the hatchery for thousands of birds, which I visited per boat yesterday. Now it is surrounded by oil.
Shockingly only half of the beach and sand dunes are protected by booms, a large segment was washed into the sea during the burning of the slick. The workers, who were yesterday hectically trying to put the booms in place, are no longer to be seen.
Bild.com
