Oil Plumes Headed to Florida Keys
BP has announced that approximately 20% of the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico is finally being contained and brought to the surface, but scientists worry that dangers to the deepwater wildlife will be much worse than anticipated.
Although a fraction of the spill is under control, for now, it not a long-term solution. The Obama Administration has made it clear that the device currently being used to capture the oil is not completely reliable and that BP must continue towards a real solution.
Massive plumes of oil are floating deep underwater and posing a threat to the surrounding environments. Because deepwater spills are fairly new, it is hard to tell how much damage will be done, let along how much oil has been spilled.
A research boat spotted a massive plume of oil last week. According to reports, it was approximately 10 miles long, 3 miles wide, and 300 feet deep. The report startled scientists and increased the potential threat to local wildlife.
The oil is staying below the surface mainly because we have dropped around 560,000 gallons of chemical dispersants into the water that have pushed the oil downward.
The most recent reports from the Huffington Post suggest the mass of oil could reach the Florida Keys very soon.
Having a background in marine life I can only picture the deep water animals drowning because they are unable to swim through the oil, they must swim to breath. That is not even including the death being caused from the absorption into the ‘skin’ of the animals. Then thinking about the food that they eat being killed and contaminated. I would guess that the fishing industry in the Gulf is detroyed for decades. This is not something that can be easily contained….the fact that so much oil is still spilling into the ocean I am very sad. I am also very disgusted that this has been thought out sooner. This is not the first oil spill, I would think that if companies are going to drill into the earth (and the gov’t allows it) there needs to be a plan for this incident. The fact that this is not the first is unforgiveable. I just hope that some of the wildlife over and under the water can be saved.
You are completely right – the deepwater marine life is going to suffer deeply as the oil continues to suck oxygen out of the water as well. The food they eat that is being contaminated is also a serious problem. The fishing industry has already taken a huge hit, and the government is just realizing they should have stepped in much more significantly weeks ago.
The saddest part is that they did have a plan – the plan that failed immediately. From there, they have been hopscotching around different solutions, rolling the dice and hoping this or that will stop the leak. At this point it’s obvious that offshore drilling, although pretty much necessary for our economy, needs to be revamped and re-evaluated for new safety measures and regulations. Nothing BP has tried to stop the oil spill has come close to living up to the understandable expectations we have of them.