Like 5000 barrels per days wasn't bad enough, independent researchers are now estimating the flow at 70000 with a 20 percent margin of error. That means it is like an exxon valdez disaster every 4 days.
"Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them." -James Michener
The dispersant's are doing a good job spreading the oil around. I have yet to hear that if X bbls of oil come out of the pipe there has to X bbls somewhere.
Some of the easier-to-eat lighter oil components that get exposed to oxygen eating bacteria now, will be eaten as a food source, but the heavier components will be around for a long, long time once they become removed from an oxygenated environment. Valdez heavies have still not dissappeared.
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"Being GREEN isn't easy" ..Kermit
BigInch
One of the big concerns is the depletion of the O2 in wider areas of the Gulf. There is already a large dead zone South and West of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Perhaps these are the dead zones you mention, or are they new ones?
The Guardian, U.K.
Ocean scientists in the Gulf of Mexico have found giant plumes of oil coagulating at up to 1,300 metres below the surface, raising fears that the BP oil spill may be larger than thought – and that it might create huge "dead zones".
As far as I know, there is a large part of teh gulf that is already "dead" due to a century of agricultural runoff into the mississippi river and other rivers that are drained by the mississippi. But the oil doesn't improve the situation.
BigInch,
There some preexisting off shore dead zones around the mouth of the Mississippi River. These have been there for a number of years and there is still debate as to cause, the leading candidate is the fertilizer runoff from the Midwest. Most of the shrimpers and fisherman can give the exact location of the existing as there is nothing there to catch. This section of the gulf doesn't need any further degradation.
They are worried about the loop current carrying some of the oil through the Florida Straits and into the Gulf Stream and up the East Coast. You would see some jumping jacks if a few tar balls hit South Beach in Miami.
What gets me is why do we hear of just one research vessel studying this problem. It Looks like a golden opportunity to measure some of the effects instead of postulation by computer simulation.
In respect to the research vessel I just watched a program on the Discovery Channel where James Cameron was filming the Titanic @ 15500 ft use a Russian Vessel and two submersibles, one to supply light for the second to operate two different robots. Cameron has made numerous dives to the Titanic on his own nickel. Some of The Wood's hole people offer to measure the leak using their equipment to measure the Black Smoker Vents, there offer was declined.
The price of shrimp is already depressed due to imports from the Far East. Fresh shrimp is mainly for the higher end restaurants. A little know fact to most is that a shrimp will try to leave any water that it considers toxic to it. The squid will do the same only faster. Both of these creatures are major items in food chain.
According to the below link , the pre-existing dead zone in the mississippi delta is a mere 6000-7000 square miles. But compared to the BP spill, it seems to be more difficult to point the finger at the 250,000 farmers that may be the cause of it.
It's been getting some coverage in SoFla, what with tarballs washing up on pristine beaches.
Actually, they're not that pristine. They had tarballs before, from tankers discharging goo. So far, no one has proven that the new tarballs are BP tarballs.
On the way back from lunch today, the guy on the radio said that the tar balls in Florida are from the ships, not BP's spill. Don't know if that's a reliable report, but thats what he said.
