I am not an expert on oil or wildlife but this oil spill in the Gulf doesn’t look or sound good for us New Orleanians but I could be wrong! I am not worried about the vegetation that is soaking up the oil because I remember when I was a kid and my neighbors would pour motor oil in their gardens and their trees would grow like weeds. What I am worried about is the wildlife. This is what makes Louisiana the Sportsman’s Paradise. I am a Darwinist when it comes to survival, this is why I can watch lions attacking defenseless animals on the nature channel without going into a deep depression but I still worry about how something like this oil spill could kill off some vulnerable species. Alligators and some turtles are definitely not in this category because they survived the dinosaurs but the brown pelicans and the thousands of different birds could fall victim to this tragedy.

The brown Pelican is our state bird and it has left New Orleans a few times before in the past because of a polluted environment. They say the brown pelican is particularly at risk because it dives beneath the water’s surface to forage. Not only could pelicans eat tainted fish and feed it to their young, but their feathers could become oil-soaked, causing hypothermia or drowning. I hope and pray that this oil spill doesn’t push our State bird away from us again.

In Louisiana we have a plethora of animals and critters in this state because of the fertility of the region. The fertility has a lot to do with the Mississippi River Delta. New Orleans is kind of like the drainage system of the largest river in the country and like most drainage it is full of everything. The good, bad and ugly. Kind of like a big pot of gumbo. If it is possible to keep a positive attitude about this oil spill tragedy I would have to say if you are going to spill thousands of barrels of oil into a region Louisiana may be one of the only regions who can handle it. Hopefully all of our massive amounts of plant life will soak up the oil and will not transfer the oils toxic chemicals to the local wildlife.

If you are not satisfied with just praying on this one then I recommend that you volunteer with the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. For more information of the Aquarium of the Americas visit the Hotel Monteleone’s listing.