DHB699

Saw this and thought I would post it

Where is all the oil? Nearly two weeks after BP finally capped the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, the oil slicks that once spread across thousands of miles of the Gulf of Mexico have largely disappeared. Nor has much oil washed up on the sandy beaches and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]marshes [COLOR=#366388 !important]along [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]the [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]Louisiana [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]coast[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. And the small cleanup army in the Gulf has only managed to skim up a tiny fraction of the millions of gallons of oil spilled in the 100 days since the Deepwater Horizon rig went up in flames.
So where did the oil go? "Some of the oil evaporates," explains Edward Bouwer, professor of environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University. That’s especially true for the more toxic components of oil, which tend to be very volatile, he says. Jeffrey W. Short, a [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]scientist [COLOR=#366388 !important]with [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]the [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]environmental [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]group[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Oceana, told the New York Times that as much as 40 percent of the oil might have evaporated when it reached the surface. High winds from two recent storms may have speeded the evaporation process.
[Photos: Latest from the Gulf oil spill]
[Related: 100 days of oil: Gulf life changed for good]
Although there were more than 4,000 boats involved in the skimming operations, those cleanup crews may have only picked up a small percentage of the oil so far. That’s not unusual; in previous oil spills, crews could only scoop up a small amount of oil. "It’s very unusual to get more than 1 or 2 percent," says Cornell University ecologist Richard Howarth, who worked on the Exxon Valdez spill. Skimming operations will continue in the Gulf for several weeks.

Some of the oil has sunk into the sediments on the [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]ocean [COLOR=#366388 !important]floor[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. Researchers say that’s where the spill could do the most damage. But according to a report in Wednesday’s New York Times, "federal scientists [have determined] the oil [is] primarily sitting in the [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]water [COLOR=#366388 !important]column[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and not on the sea floor."

Perhaps the most important cause of the oil’s disappearance, some researchers suspect, is that the oil has been devoured by microbes. The lesson from past spills is that the lion’s share of the cleanup work is done by nature in the form of oil-eating bacteria and fungi. The microbes break down the hydrocarbons in oil to use as fuel to grow and reproduce. A bit of oil in the water is like a feeding frenzy, causing microbial populations to grow exponentially.

Typically, there are enough microbes in the ocean to consume half of any oil spilled in a month or two, says Howarth. Such microbes have been found in every ocean of the world sampled, from the Arctic to Antarctica. But there are reasons to think that the process may occur more quickly in the Gulf than in other oceans.

Microbes grow faster in the warmer water of the Gulf than they do in, say, the cool waters off Alaska, where the Exxon Valdez spill occurred. Moreover, the Gulf is hardly pristine. Even before humans started drilling for oil in the Gulf — and spilling lots of it — oil naturally seeped into the water. As a result, the Gulf evolved a rich collection of [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]petroleum-loving [COLOR=#366388 !important]microbes[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], ready to pounce on any new spill. The microbes are clever and tough, observes Samantha Joye, microbial geochemist at the University of Georgia. Joye has shown that oxygen levels in parts of the Gulf contaminated with oil have dropped. Since microbes need oxygen to eat the petroleum, that’s evidence that the microbes are hard at work.

The controversial dispersant used to break up the oil as it gushed from the deep-sea well may have helped the microbes do their work. Microbes can more easily consume small drops of oil than big ones. And there is evidence the microbes like to munch on the dispersant as well.

It is still far too early to know how much damage the spill has done — and may still be doing — to the environment. [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Tar [COLOR=#366388 !important]balls[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] continue to wash up on beaches. And the risk of a leak remains, until the well is permanently capped sometime in the next few weeks.

Dagwood

I think you answered your own question.

K-Bill

daily news reported tar balls in chocatawhatchee bay. articale was in there yesterday. with more expected for an unknown length of time.

Pourman1

I have some friends that have been working the VOO program since it started in Orange Beach , and the past 2 days they have seen and collected MORE Oil than any time since this all began ... the reality IS this shi* will be around for a LONG time

Ocean Master

The oil is down near or on the bottom waiting for a storm to bring it onshore. While the oil is there it is killing algea, larvae (sp) and all bottom kritters needed to substain the fish life.

SHunter

As much as I hate to think about it, I believe that the oil is clumped on the bottom which is not a good thing for bottom dwellers. With what we saw coming out of that pipe, there is no way that natural degradation of that oil could have happened by now. Let's hope we don't have a storm so that nature has time to fix this mess.

beachsceneguy

evidently someone thinks its almost over. all of the beach clean-up workers in the Navarre area were laid-off this morning. over 500 of them. i for one saw no signs of tar balls or oil on my beach inspection this morning. lets hope it IS almost over !!!

KoolKat45

If your not seeing any on top then dig around a little I promise you its there and if your satisfied with out of sight out of mind you feel different then me. There is tons of oil all along our beaches anywhere from a few inches to a foot and half below the surface and for some reason that I dont understand they dont want it cleaned up???? We are all about if it looks good the out of towners will come and spend money and all will be well which is a joke. I dont wish anyone a hard time with making money but there is a bunch of oil on our beaches just below the surface and it needs cleaned just like the surface and they are trying to hide it so people feel better and they can move on to hiding other things....

dockmaster

If the oil is on the bottom, then why haven't any of the 50 gazzilion divers with cameras around here, Mobile, Orange Beach etc, gone and got proof........ I mean, we call bull shit for a non camera fish or deer pictures!!

There not all working for the VOO program.

Lets go boys and girls, break out the cameras and show us...... Dont wait for our leader what ever his name is.

Bonsaifishrman

Gone!

__________________