British Petroleum been able to stop the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, but they'd better brace because Audrey Matura Shepherd is heading their way.
Matura-Shepherd leaves the country on Saturday to take part in a Gulf expedition set up by the Oceana foundation. As Oceana's Vice President in Belize, Matura-Shepherd says the team will identify possible oil spreading, carry out tests to detect un-noticed contamination, and tag migrating sharks and turtles.
Seven News caught up with Matura-Shepherd today to find out more about the expedition.
Audrey Matura Shepherd, VP Oceana
"The expedition that Oceana has under taking is really a scientific expedition and at the same time it wants to maintain awareness to actually what has happen in the Gulf. So what we doing, we are going to be leaving from Fort Lauderdale and we will be navigating in shallow waters and as we go along, our divers and our scientist will be checking the eco-system in that area; tagging everything we find from sharks to turtle finding where the corals are, literally taking pictures and documenting. Then when we reach the coast of Louisiana where the actual spill occurred we will turn back, we will actually get to see the rig that went down and there then we will start going into deep waters on our way back to Fort Lauderdale. In the deep waters we know it is so deep we will be using a ROV which is a robot that will go down and take pictures and take samples, so we will be taking samples throughout to be able to then test them and give scientific information as to what are the effects of the spill on the wildlife and the marine eco-system in that area."
Jim McFadzean
"You will be a representative of this country. How will that benefit Belize?"
Audrey Matura Shepherd, VP Oceana
"Well you see there are a lot of similarities in that area with Belize, of course our eco-system is far more diverse, much richer, but in terms we share that link between the Gulf and Belize. We have animals that migrate between those two areas; the wale sharks being one, and so being there the idea is for me being part of the team that's leading the campaign here against offshore drilling in Belize to appreciate what those people have gone through there and one of the things I'll be doing there is actually stopping there at Louisiana on the coast and going to meet with key people so that I can interview speak with them to find out how their lives have been impacted and we only see what the news says right now and we only hear what the government say and what BP say but we seldom see stories about the real people whose live have been impacted. So it is to go and get a first hand view and feel as to what these people have suffered and to ensure that what I learn there we can bring it back and teach our people here let them know and to ensure that when we create policies it's to prevent that kind of impact happening here. And to really have information with which to arm ourselves so that we can continue our opposition to offshore drilling in Belize."
The research ship will set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and will work for two months in the Gulf of Mexico including the Louisiana Coast.
