This photo was taken in the winter time. You can see pelicans flying over the water and the silhouette of an oil rig in the distance.
The oil gush came at a very inopportune time; not that there is ever a good time. In the late spring and early summer, the pelicans are nesting on the outerbanks and sea critters are spawning and laying their eggs. This gush would not have been quite so devastating to wildlife, particularly the pelicans, had it been the end of summer or in the winter when they were not instinctively clinging to protecting their nests and their babies.
It would always have been bad for the oyster beds and the fishing industry.
WHAT A MESS.