Upon hearing of Audubon's call for written reflections on the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a Fourth Grade class in Leon County, Florida emailed the following submissions, entirely written by the students. Thank you for sharing your wonderful and well-written entries!
"The Deepwater Horizon will never be forgotten in my mind. It will always be remembered as a very terrible event and I don't want the animals and plants to have to suffer again. I can't believe that we would let something this bad and harmful happen to the natural things, either in the Gulf of Mexico, or near the Gulf of Mexico."
"My family have been sad about the oil spill and how it can hurt our future. My family can not go to the beach at the Gulf of Mexico because we're scared something is going to happen. My brother and me never went to the Gulf. Are we ever going to? Is this going to do something to our future?"
"The Deepwater Horizon effected my community because what about the people that fish in the Gulf for a living? What if they did not make good money? And what if you love fish, you can't eat as much now. It did not help our special places because less people came to visit the beaches, unless you were nice and you came to help clean up or donate money to help."
"I think the oil spill in the Gulf was bad for animals that live there. I think that the spill should encourage people to help clean our environment."
"People come to Florida for our beautiful beaches, but they have not been so beautiful because of the oil spill."
"The Deepwater Horizon tragedy makes me feel sad. The situation is tragic and the pollution is a threat to our beautiful Gulf coast."
"The Deepwater Horizon affected me because I love animals and now the oil is affecting hundreds of animals that live in the Gulf of Mexico. The sea birds are getting covered in oil and plankton are getting killed because of the Deepwater Horizon. It is the 1st anniversary of the oil spill and animals are still dying. I hope the Gulf of Mexico will recover from the Deepwater Horizon."
"The oil spill affected me because every time I go to the beach I think about the oil spill and how the fish, birds, dolphins, whales, and even plankton get hurt. One day I may go to the beach and instead of going in the water to play... I'm going to clean the oil!"
"The Deepwater Horizon really affected Florida's beaches. Think about it. What if you went out to the beach to enjoy a nice picnic. Then you smell something weird. You look around and see dead and oil covered animals. It would ruin your day. Then you probably wouldn't come back."
"A lot of people including me have gone to the beach and haven't liked what we'd seen. Just a few yards away from the shore was a bridge of orange buoys and tar balls scattered about. To this day there are tar balls. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped to save the animals of the sea. But is there enough helpers? Will you volunteer?"
