"Disastrous effects of spill may be hidden in Gulf depths; Researchers see massive oil plumes; Fear impact on spawning season" by Matthew Brown, Associated Press | June 1, 2010
NEW ORLEANS — Independent scientists and government officials say there is a disaster we can’t see in the Gulf of Mexico’s depths: the potential ruin of a world inhabited by enormous sperm whales and invisible plankton.
Related: The New Dead Zone
Researchers have said they have found at least two massive underwater plumes of what appear to be oil, each hundreds of feet deep and stretching for miles. Yet the chief executive of
Who are you going to believe at this point?
Researchers, however, say the disaster in waters where light doesn’t shine through could ripple across the food chain.
“Every fish and invertebrate contacting the oil is probably dying. I have no doubt about that,’’ said Prosanta Chakrabarty, a Louisiana State University fish biologist.
A 24-hour camera fixed on the spewing, blown-out well on the seafloor and daily images of dead, oil-soaked birds have been evidence of the calamity. At least 20 million gallons of oil and possibly 43 million gallons have spilled since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank in April. That has far eclipsed the 11 million gallons released during the
But there is no camera to capture what happens in the rest of the vast Gulf, which sprawls across 600,000 square miles and reaches more than 14,000 feet at its deepest point.
Every night, the denizens of the deep make forays to shallower depths to eat — and be eaten by — other fish, according to marine scientists who describe it as the largest migration on earth....
Last week, a team from the University of South Florida reported that a plume was headed toward the continental shelf off the Alabama coastline, waters thick with fish and other marine life.
The researchers said oil in the plumes had dissolved into the water, possibly a result of chemical dispersants used to break up the spill. That makes it more dangerous to fish larvae and creatures that are filter feeders.
Related: Chemical Dispersant Caused New Oil Leak in Gulf
Yeah, I'd say something that kills you is dangerous.
Responding to Hayward’s assertion, one researcher noted that scientists from several different universities have come to similar conclusions about the plumes after separate testing.
No major fish kills have been reported, but federal officials said the effects could take years to unfold.
Yesterday, BP was preparing to use another risky procedure to slow the rate of oil, but federal officials acknowledge that the technique would probably, at least temporarily, increase the gushing volume by 20 percent — at least 100,000 gallons a day....
And if they DON'T GET IT RIGHT?
“If you’ve got to cut that riser, that’s risky. You could take a bad situation and make it worse,’’ said Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor of environmental sciences.
The latest attempt, which began last night with robot submarines cutting small pipes in preparation, is occurring after BP failed to plug the leak Saturday with its top kill, which shot mud and pieces of rubber into the well but couldn’t beat back the pressure of the oil.
The best hope for stopping the flow of oil would involve drilling a relief well diagonally into the gushing well, a process that would take until late August, officials said.
Then it is going to be THREE MORE MONTHS of GUSH, folks.
The Gulf will become a PUDDLE of OIL!!!!
For the bid to succeed, the bore hole must precisely intersect the damaged well. If it misses, BP will have to back up its drill, plug the hole it just created, and try again. The trial-and-error process could take weeks, but it will eventually work, scientists and BP said....
Why did my hopes just evaporate (unlike the oil slick), folks?
We are now on a TRIAL and ERROR basis?
