Gulf Slick Dissipates, But Where's Oil Going?

(AP)  In the nearly two weeks since a temporary cap stopped BP's gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, not much oil has been showing up on the surface of the water.

Scientists caution that doesn't mean the crude is gone. There's still a lot of it in the Gulf, though no one is sure quite how much or exactly where it is.

"You know it didn't just disappear," said Ernst Peebles, a biological oceanographer at the University of South Florida. "We expect that is has been dispersed pretty far by now."

Photos: 100 Days, 100 Photos

Jane Lubchenco, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said government and independent scientists have been working hard to figure out where the oil might be, but don't yet have numbers. Some is still washing up on beaches and in coastal wetlands, but not in the quantities it was a few weeks ago.

Special Section: Gulf Coast Oil Disaster

Scientists do know that more than 600 miles of coastline has been oiled in the nearly 100 days since the April 20 explosion of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon.

They estimate that between 107 million gallons and 184 million gallons spewed into the Gulf before the cap stopped the flow July 15. The permanent solution, using a relief well to shoot in mud and cement, is still several weeks away.

So far, officials say they have recovered 34.6 million gallons of oily water using skimmer boats and burned about 11.1 million gallons off the sea surface.

So where's the rest?

Scientists are worried that much of it has been trapped below the surface after more than 770,000 gallons of chemical dispersant were used to break up the oil a mile deep. They have found evidence of massive clouds of oil suspended in the water.

"What is down there is a smaller particle," said chemical oceanographer John Kessler from Texas A&M University. "You can't think of it as thick, nasty crude."

Kessler sampled the waters around the broken well and found high natural gas levels more than 3,000 feet below the surface and miles-long underwater oil plumes.

Scientists want to know how fast the oil is being eaten by microbes, how fast it is being diluted, whether it is sinking to the bottom and where it is being carried off to. Scientists say large amounts of oil trapped in the subsurface could contaminate the food chain and deplete oxygen.

Lubchenco, a marine scientist, said the oil was not sinking to the bottom.

"As far as we can determine it is primarily in the water column itself, not sitting on the seafloor," Lubchenco said.

She also said the oil beneath the surface appears to be biodegrading very quickly, which she called a good sign.

Thomas Bianchi, a geochemist and oceanographer at Texas A&M University, said that because the dispersants have pushed oil underwater, scientists may be past the point where they can track it from the air.

"Now it's time to look at the molecular and microbial food web," he said. "We may be beyond people in white suits and booms."

He added: "There's no way to clean up water at that level in a large basin like the Gulf or these estuaries. You have to live with nature's ability to clean it up."

[bamio]

Obamie's administration should know where the oil is and precisely what to do about. After all, that's their JOB!!...just like closing Gitmo by Jan 2010 and having all US troops out of Iraq by Aug 1 were.

[olyboy]

So is the extortionist in chief going to give the $20 billion back to the shareholders? I somehow doubt it. What a crook.

[ludvig1-2009]

It's disintegrating by eating up the oxygen in the water by a chemical formula something like Butane + Oxygen = Carbon Dioxide + Water. C4H10 + O2 = CO2 + H20. I'm not any good at balancing the equation anymore, but that's what's happening. This Oxygen Depletion is why you don't see the fish in the water. They can't live there. In the environmental science world it's referred to as Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and is used in sewage treatment plant releases based on the time to flow down a river in England.

[Cyber998]

The biggest source of oil leakage into the Gulf is fertilizer run-off from farms. It causes massive dead-zones every year.

[PapaGracio]

Don't worry about getting all of the oil cleaned up BP, the fish will soak it up real nice.

[skeezix06]

The oil is still there as is the poison BP so carelessly dropped in. This will harm the Gulf for a very long time.

[askagain]

So it turns out that nature can handle disasters both manmade and natural. Isn't this what nature has been doing for millions of years? Lets take this a little further. Why can't nature handle the so called climate change that some acientists and governments want us to spend countless money on? As with natural disasters, the climate has been changing for millions of years. Perhaps we give ourselves too much credit when we believe that our earthly activities affect climate change and pollute the world.

[tsigili]

The original estimate, was a huge area in the Atlantic ocean, east of the US. That is where the currents have likely been carrying it, and now that the flow is at least temporarily stopped, the oil already spilled will likely have flowed with the currents, to the predicted location.

[bankersvox]

RUSH NAILED IT.

[displeased]

With his knowledge, he should be president.

[jmichael07]

All that's needed for a little spilled milk is a Bounty soaker-picker-upper, right? to do the marketing trick so you can all start believing in BP again and get back to how naturally stupid they really are, while they "let you" get back to the rest of your insubstantial life. And yet, some Americans don't have a life anymore having committed suicide for the casual "environmental" impact so speciously addressed in comments here.

So where's the oil going? Hmmm.. Who cares? Rather, I still wonder, what kind of dumb-ass mferz drill miles below the ocean on our shores providing a half-ass emergency shutdown to satiate their greed? Oh Yes We Can--of course, it's all the people you count on 'cause BP wants their "life" back to use up and discard yours in the event of any catastrophic risk. Yes-men only trust nice guys, you see. They are truly oh so very sorry for getting caught screwing up worse than they're usually able to hide or manage for credibility issues telling more important engineers *** to do to create environmental disasters in the name of marketing and financial risks that pay SOB's big money. It's unquestionable because after all it takes clout and a lot of convincing that Americans are really too stupid to do anything. But our failsafe, the engineers, should have told BP to go to fiery hell. But given the pressure-cooker conflagration of cirucmstances BP marketing/business greedily manufactures at literally any expense, I'm sure they were also quite confident and happy it wasn't on their own shores...and so worth any risk then, eh? Think positive, remember? =) Cuz BP and their paid political pigs only works for you if you can feel good about even the worst they consistently do, remember??? =)

BP...yes, the marketing you'll "trust" because, you LIKE to hear the positive "YES, foreign corporations and their politics are bending America over so YOU can feel good about being involved in the action," (at least you're getting some they'll tell you) and then somehow, make you forget all about how serious it "was" but actually still is. Yes, they KNOW how truly and naturally STUPID Americans become when they see a simple dumbed-down "happier" (believe our lies with a smile) logo with assuring (presidential even) talking heads, instead of the real and ugly fat mferz sitting behind their mahogany desks planning their next multimillion they don't even need being too greedy to let it go. So what will you buy next from them?

Faulty Assurance. Rest assured, because if it had been a truly private AMERICAN endeavor gone so bad, someone would be dead or in jail rotting righteously on bread and water. But not BP, eh? Hmmm...because your president will tell you how "respectable corporate citizens" clean up half-ass politics for Americans and the American shores they will destroy. Oh Yes They Can make you believe their lies.

So where's the oil going? Who REALLY cares is what I read of many as frivolous comments here. Thank BP who capitalizes on your insignificant 30 second attention span, and that of our "important" corporate and political leaders. They have the real power to make you feel good in a disaster like it's just an isolated case of a little spilled milk. So quit crying and drink your milk? Well, You first Stupid. Take a deep long drink and smile like a green sunflower. How natural stupidity feels suiting so many... And just wait till they find oil reserves up North you damn fools.