Driving down Highway 1 and seeing all the seafood businesses that the Gulf oil spill could affect really saddened me.

Brittany Besson, 12, and her cousins spent an hour filling water balloons at a family party in Grand Isle, La.

Every stride that Louis Chavira took was another step into oily waters. His boots were covered in chocolate-colored mulch mixed with dirt and his hands were encased in grimy gloves. Leaning in to scoop up another shovelful of oil and dirt, he let out a deep sigh.

“Somebody’s got to do it,” said Chavira, a resident of Grand Isle, La. “I’m a lifetime resident of this parish, and I’ve made a lot of my living on the water. If this doesn’t get under control very fast, we could lose all these wetlands.”