Hands Across the Sand in Pensacola

Last month’s Hands Across the Sand protest at Pensacola Beach which was attended by Florida Governor Charlie Crist and his wife.  BP clean up workers were on hand as well but took a break while the protest against offshore oil drilling took place.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist and wife Carole frolic in the Pensacola Beach surf

While the well is temporarily capped, an eerie mood remains along the Florida panhandle.

The consummate politician

Tourist watch the mostly local protesters

BP workers struggle to clean the surf

BP workers watch from their shelters as the protesters line the beach

While photojournalism has taken me into some unfortunate and saddening disasters, most of them of this proportion have been natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Being a man made disaster makes it more difficult to cover.