Originally Posted by
Havakasha
The AP is not liberal.. Remember how during the 2008 election the head of the political division was a Bush supporter. I bet you forgot that now didnt you?
But am happy that some of the oil is evaporating and that some of it is more gaseous than oil. Thats good news. Huge quantities are still washing ashore and hanging out underwater. Once again john i know it not something you are very good at but admit you were wrong and that there is more than one way the oil spill is damaging the fishing ecosystem.
Scientists find evidence of large underwater oil underwater plume.
By David A. Fahrenthold and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 27, 2010; 2:49 PM
Scientists have found evidence of a large underwater "plume" of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, adding to fears that much of the BP oil spill's impact is hidden beneath the surface.
The scientists, aboard a University of South Florida research vessel, were testing the water in sites east and northeast of the leak's source. The university said they detected traces of dissolved oil as deep as 1,300 feet below the surface.
That test seemed to confirm the fears of some scientists that -- because of the depth of the leak and the heavy use of chemical "dispersants" -- this spill was behaving differently than others. Instead of floating on top of the water, it may be moving beneath it.
That would be troubling because it could mean the oil would slip past coastal defenses such as "containment booms" designed to stop it on the surface. Already, scientists and officials in Lousiana have reported finding thick oil washing ashore despite the presence of floating booms.
It would also be a problem for hidden ecosystems deep under the gulf. There, scientists say, the oil could be absorbed by tiny animals and enter a food chain that builds to large, beloved sport-fish like red snapper. It might also glom on to deep-water coral formations, and cover the small animals that make up each piece of coral.
"It kills them because it prevents them from feeding," said Professor James H. Cowan Jr., of Louisiana State University. "It could essentially starve them to death."
The University of South Florida vessel, the Weatherbird II, used sonar and other devices to sample the water below it. Other scientists have said they have little of the equipment necessary to find oil under the water -- leading to debates about whether the underwater plumes were even there.
This week, Mike Utsler, who helps oversee the spill response off the entire Louisiana coast as BP Houma incident commander, said he's only focused on taking oil off the surface. "We don't know there's oil underwater," he said.
But others had seen worrisome evidence.
Owen Morgan of Amira, a group that specializes in breaking apart spills with oil-eating microbes, found evidence of the oil plume off Venice when his team sampled water 75 feet beneath the service. Morgan -- who said his company is pulling out of Louisiana because of insufficient cooperation from state and federal authorities -- showed a thick, gooey sample consisting of 60 percent crude oil.
"People don't realize how bad it is," Morgan said, dipping a fork in the sample to show the goo that hung in midair without sliding off. "This went on for three miles, of that consistency."
Reply With Quote