With little more than his car, some protective gear and a camera, Jesus Mares, senior ecological restoration major, set out to see for himself the devastation that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused.

No less than an hour after venturing onto one of the beaches affected by the oil, he was detained and arrested. Mares said he did not know the initial reason for his arrest. Mares said he wished he could do something, so he went to the beaches and had a look for himself.

“I started around 6 in the morning to collect oil samples from the affected beach areas,” Mares said.

His initial plan was to travel along the Gulf coastal regions, picking up samples while capturing what he observes on photographic film.  He soon found photos were the only item he was allowed to take back with him.

Born in Mexico, Mares became a citizen of the U.S. when he was 18 and came to A&M as a biology major.  He changed majors after a few years in order to work with environmental issues.

“There is a lot more field work in environmental restoration,” Mares said. “I wouldn’t want to sit in a lab all day.”

Despite the lack of manpower and little backing Mares possessed, he still ventured onto a contaminated beach.  He said the initial response from the beach workers he encountered was concern that he was a part of an unspecified organization.

“A majority of people I saw on the beach were wearing BP ID badges,” Mares said.

After the initial encounter, Mares was told to stay on the ocean side of the protective boom, which is where the majority of the oil contaminants resided.  Mares said he continued down the beach to take more pictures and attempt to gather a sample.

After more time passed, Mares began to see more and more people populating the beach, picking up trash and other duties that were assigned to them to help abate the ecological disaster the spill is causing.

“Two men on an ATV vehicle then began to question me again about why I was on the beach,” Mares said.

He was sent to a decontamination pool and questioned further about his purpose on the beach.

“I refused questioning and doling out my information until the Jefferson Parish sheriff came to the scene,” he said.

After a series of questions and search of his car, the Grand Isle Police Department arrived at the scene.  Mares was taken into custody for one day.  He was told he was detained for trespassing on the beach.  He was released on $200 bail the next day.

Mares said this experience will continue to inspire him to also pursue fields in environmental activism as well.

David Briske, an ecologist at A&M, said Mares was a student in his rangeland communities and ecosystems class.  Mares cited Briske as one of his mentors in studying the environment.

There was a report filed by the AP that a Texas man was caught swimming in the oil-affected water at the same date.  The article mentions Mares’ name as the Texas man.  However, Mares said he did not swim in the gulf waters.

“They said I was some crazy Texas man,” Mares said.

Many students are concerned with the growing oil spill.

“It is quite tragic the events that are unfolding,” said Drew Parks, junior mechanical engineering major.  “We all wish we could do something about it.”

However, students are also aware of the help being provided by people all over the world.
“There are a number of people working on the solution to fixing the oil leak and cleaning up the spill,” said Ramteen Morad, a junior French major.  “I even heard Kevin Costner had a hand in helping with the oil spill.  He is such a great actor, as well as a scientist.”