Oil spill: Portraits from the gulf
Working offshore was the only life Murphy Bernard knew. But since the oil spill, he and his wife, Dena, have been struggling. They have not received compensation for lost income. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Kevin Brannon, left, and his son, Andrew, head out at sunrise to move oyster beds in Mobile Bay, temporary work funded by the state of Alabama that pays $8 a stack. Attempts for substantial restitution from BP have not worked out, he said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Mike Foster is chief of marketing for Alabama’s state beach towns. “It was like seeing the planes hit the towers,” he said of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. He said all the pictures of white sand in the world couldn’t undo the public relations stain of the constant footage of seabirds coated in oil. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Peace Marvel works as a boat captain for sport fishermen in Venice, La. He says his business is down about 60% from a normal year. With three children and a wife to support, he is trying to find new ways to supplement his salary. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Michelle Jones of Baton Rouge, La., was widowed when her husband, Gordon, was killed with 10 other rig workers on the Deepwater Horizon. She is now a single mom raising sons Stafford, background, and Max, and working part-time. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
