Thinking ahead to After The Spill

It can be very difficult to maintain a positive attitude while witnessing so much destruction. In other words, it's hard to be happy when you are in pain! This disaster is very painful. The oil continues to flow, and now threatens the Dry Tortugas. But, if we look back in time to the Valdez spill, and the eventual recovery of Prince William Sound, there is hope that ecosystems can rebound. The effort to heal the Gulf will surely be monumental, but what other option is there? Here is a comprehensive article and time line of the Prince William story. It is many pages long, but worth a read. In this article from the National Park Service, one of the Kenai Fjords superintendants says that current visitors to the park actually have to look hard to find residue of the Valdez spill. What I take from all of this is that recovery is not absolute - there are levels of recovery, and recovery is static. Time DOES heal, though not thoroughly. However, as time marches on, wildlife will return. Wildlife will exploit every opportunity, it only needs the opportunity - and a lot of help.