You're probably right about the effects of the sun....but I have a different recollection of the "cleanliness" of the Gulf. I grew up in Biloxi, on the Coast. We had sewage pipes all along that crystal white beach....spewing "stuff" into the MS Sound...and we crabbed, fished, and swam there. No telling what we were exposed to back then. Ignorance is bliss!

I'm just sick about the oil. I remember my dad being so excited because the pelicans were coming back after being devastated by DDT so many years ago. To see them now, covered in oil, is terrible. I grew up with lots of people whose families depend on the shrimping/seafood industry too. I wonder what will become of them.... I used to only buy shrimp that were "wild caught." I'd hesitate now. I think it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better...if it ever does.

Yeah, there's no instant cure for this catastrophic mess. That should never have been allowed in the first place. Our world can only be stand a certain amount of this blatant abuse, then nobody knows for sure what will happen then, but it won't be pretty!

My clematis, Purple Leatherflower...3 vines blooming so far.

that's beautiful!

wow! That is native isn't it?

Yes...clematis pitcheri. Unfortunately, the vine was partly attached to a small tree that had died last year. The base of the tree trunk snapped and I had to get the vine off it this evening so I could remove the little tree. I should have removed that tree early in the year. But I procrastinated, then when the hummingbirds came...well, they like to rest on the branches...then the clematis vine grabbed onto it...oh, well!

well dead trees have value too, even if it is for bottles! Too bad it snapped.