No oil here in Key Largo!

The beach at Pennekamp Park in Key Largo. Dh and I went there Sunday and the water was gorgeous. Fish swam right by our feet and we even saw tarpon leaping!

No trace of oil here reported by vigilant Floridians. It was refreshing to finally get to the Keys, one of our favorite places for a day trip. As soon as you cross into Key Largo, you can feel the tension slide away, as if someone were removing a cloak from your shoulders.

We ate lunch at our favorite Key Largo restaurant, Snappers, and watched enormous tarpon hanging out by the pier. It was a wonderful, relaxing day.

The BP oil spill has left me sickened and grief-stricken. As a Floridian and a nature lover, I fully understand the importance of the fragile ecosystem, marine and bird wildlife. But at least in the Keys, I didn't see any evidence of tar balls.

We didn't have enough time get to another favorite place, the Dolphin Research Center. This is a wonderful organization where you can swim with the dolphins or just watch them play. They also do important manatee rescues and this is a place where injured manatees and dolphins are tended and brought back to health.

The entire oil spill crisis has left me feeling powerless, but I realized this week as an individual I do have the power to make a small change. I can't volunteer, but I can donate.

CNN has a good article on one organization helping oil-slicked birds such as pelicans.

Here's another article on how you can help.