and some more facts that the BP mafia will not like to see

8 Shocking Things I Witnessed While Covering the Gulf Spill

Photos by Brian Merchant

I recently got back from a 10 day stint covering the Gulf oil spill for TreeHugger. The scenes I came across in impacted regions throughout Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were tense, chaotic, devastating and often downright sad. A disaster of such a magnitude is capable of taking you by surprise on a daily basis -- from gruesome scenes of beaches packed with dead marine life to strange encounters with chemicals that transform oil into asphalt, here are the most shocking things I saw during my time in the Gulf.

1. Hundreds -- If Not Thousands -- of Dead Fish Washing Ashore

I had already seen oil washing ashore on the Louisiana mainland a few days before, but it was doing so in small globules and small amounts. While that certainly raised red flags, the first guttural response I registered was as a result of witnessing thegrisly scene of hundreds and hundreds of dead fish washing ashore on an island off Alabama. More likely a result of BP's use of chemical dispersants than the oil itself, the cause of the fish's death ashore remains unconfirmed. The video above should give an idea of the gruesome scene -- there was a dead fish ashore for every step I took on the miles-long stretch of beach.

2. BP Failing to Provide Safety Gear to Fishermen Working With Oil

One of the first things I learned when I arrived in Venice, Louisiana, was that BP was failing to provide adequate safety gear to the fishermen it hired to clean up the toxic oil spill. The NRDC's Dr. Gina Solomon explained why this presents a severe health risk to these men, and why not being properly protected is dangerous. Have we learned nothing from other disasters -- this lack of concern with human safety was pretty shocking.

3. Dead Sea Turtle, Dead Dolphin on the Beach

On one of my last days on the ground, I got a tip that marine life had been discovered ashore on an island off Mississippi. I joined the nonprofit Below the Surface to investigate, and sure enough -- dead creatures littered the shores. A baby dolphin, a sea turtle, a few birds, and man-o-wars were washed up all across the small island.

4. Mystery Solution Turning Oil Into Asphalt

This was shocking for another reason -- the US army was deploying a response to the spill that seemed lifted from a sci fi film: they were planning on turning oil first into a gelatin, and then into asphalt. Yes, oil from the gulf spill could end up paving a road. Pretty strange stuff -- take a look at this video to see how the army plans to to enact its scheme.

5. The Deployment of Chemical Dispersants

Another thing that blew my mind while I was in the Gulf was the effectiveness of thechemical dispersants. BP was blasting hundreds of thousands of gallons of the stuff into the spill -- and at least visually, it looked to be doing its job. That is, disperse the oil and spread it around, instead of actually getting rid of it. The toxic, experimental chemical haven't been properly tested before, and pose a unknown threat to marine ecosystems. And most shocking of all, when I flew over the spill, they made it appear as though the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico was little more than an oily sheen.

6. Bobby Jindal Announcing Plan to Fight the Oil Spill by Building Islands

I certainly did a double take when the Louisiana Governor announced his plan to create new islands out of dredged materials to combat the oil spill. Do what? Conservation scientist Rick Stiener told me that as a containment plan, it was downright "ludicrous." Hauling in enough land to make islands, then removing them after it's soaked with oil -- why not just haul out the contaminated sand then replace it with dredged materials? More likely, Jindal may have wanted BP to foot the bill for a proposed project that had been in the pipeline for years -- any action taken under the cleanup effort BP says it will pay for.

7. 14 year-old Girl Standing Up to BP

No one expected this: at a town hall-style meeting, a 14 year-old girl took on BP and asked them to better educate children about the impacts of their oil spill.

8. Businesses Drying Up Instantly

Finally, I was shocked to see the immediacy with which the spill had crippled local businesses -- but it makes sense. Without any shrimp coming in, wholesalers and business owners like Kai have nothing to sell. His business was ruined, with no compensation from BP in sight. He had no idea how he was going to stay afloat.

More Gulf Oil Spill Reportage:
Gulf Spill Exclusive: Shocking Marine Life Destruction and Angry Locals (Slideshow)
5 Reasons You Won't See the Worst of the Gulf Oil Spill
You Are Underestimating How Deadly the BP Gulf Oil Spill Will Be