Seeing it again feels like a punch in the gut, that overwhelming sadness that comes from watching oil-drenched animals try to move through slick-covered water.
It鈥檚 been one year since the . Oil still seeps through Louisiana marshes and shows up on beaches along the Gulf, but the media鈥檚 all but left the spill behind. HBO鈥檚 new documentary, , brings it back into focus, through the lens of one young pelican.
LA 895鈥攖he 895th oiled Louisiana bird that wildlife rehab picked up鈥攚as just 10 weeks old when he got covered in black goop, snatched by rehab crews, and separated from his family in the name of saving his life. The film follows him through his two-week rehabilitation journey, through the cleaning process with a stress level equivalent to running a marathon, his learning to feed again, even his release day.
It鈥檚 a poignant way to help viewers empathize with the creatures the accident inadvertently harmed and stunned. 鈥淲hat does this one little pelican have to do with it? Why follow one pelican? We were overwhelmed by the nature of what happened in the Gulf,鈥 Sheila Nevins, head of HBO documentaries and the film鈥檚 executive producer, told a crowd at a Museum of Natural History screening. 鈥淗uman species and animal species [were] all affected in a deep way.鈥
鈥淧elican 895 had never taken any acting lessons,鈥 she said, lightening the mood for but a moment. 鈥淗e was out there trying to grow up in nature, then life took a sudden turn.鈥
Director Irene Taylor Brodsky says they decided to follow a pelican because the prehistoric-looking birds became unintentional icons of the spill鈥攂oth those that wildlife rehabbers could save and those that perished. 鈥淲e were gonna stick with 895 whether he lived or died,鈥 she says.
Though A69鈥擫A 895鈥檚 new name after his release鈥攕urvived the spill ordeal, researchers can鈥檛 predict for how long he鈥檒l make it in the wild or what the long-term detriment might be. That鈥檚 the thing; we still know very little about the oil鈥檚 lasting effect. Saving Pelican 895 gives us insight into one more little piece.
The airs on HBO at 9 p.m. this Wednesday, April 20.