Gulf oil spill

Gulf oil spill plumes: what is known so far.

Scientists have found evidence of at least two undersea plumes from the Gulf oil spill. The plumes appear to be diluted, but still a threat to the foundations of the Gulf food chain.

Scientists are groping in the deep, lightless waters of the Gulf of Mexico, trying to take the full measure of oil that has been detected several thousand feet below the surface.

The undersea clouds are tenuous. Oil concentrations measured so far have been very small – akin to diluting a half-ounce of oil in every 1 million ounces of seawater.

Still, the oil and its companion, methane, represent an unseen but worrisome presence from the Gulf oil spill, now in its ninth week, researchers say.

Some of the creatures most vulnerable to diluted oil are among the ocean's smallest and least able to avoid plumes – various forms of plankton, as well as larvae of fish and corals. Early research suggests that, while microbes are eating the oil, they are also consuming oxygen vital to undersea ecosystems.

Scientists are wary of drawing sweeping conclusions from what so far are limited data. Too much is still unknown about the situation – from the spread of the plumes to the effect of oil and chemical dispersants in deep water. But scientists are gathering as much information as possible on the plumes, knowing that new data are crucial to projecting the plumes' potential effect on the Gulf's undersea ecosystems and the fisheries they sustain.

Gulf oil spill biggest victims are the smallest creatures.

Gulf oil spill has affected nature in many ways, but it's the tiny organisms at the bottom of the food chain that are getting hit the hardest.

Over the last two months, the BP oil leak has unleashed all manner of havoc on the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. But while sad pictures of large-eyed, oil coated birds make these animals the most visible victims of the oil leak, smaller ocean creatures will bear the brunt of the damage, scientists say.

"The greatest threat is to the whole food chain, and the base of the food chain, said John Caruso, an ecology and evolutionary biology professor at Tulane University. "People see the big impressive animals like pelicans and the other sea birds. It's a devastating sight, it tears you up when you see those poor birds covered in oil, but the real damage to our coastal ecosystem here will come from destruction of the cord grasses."

In particular, the cord and Spartina grasses that grow on the coast of Louisiana are crucial to the ecosystem and especially sensitive to the oil leak, Caruso said. These grasses form the foundation of the local food chain, and their root systems lessen the erosion of the small islands that protect inland Louisiana from hurricanes, Caruso said.


Gulf oil spill's wildlife toll: sharks near shore, turtles incinerated.

The Gulf oil spill has killed local wildlife not only with oil but also in cleanup efforts. It may have changed the behavior of some animals, too. But its hard for scientists to draw a direct link.

A sunbathing family spots a beached baby dolphin covered in oil from the Gulf oil spill. The family tries to scrape off the oil until a wildlife officer, jaw hard-set, carries it to shore. On its way to a sea mammal rescue center in Panama City, the dolphin dies.

To many Americans, this might be one of the more enduring images of the Gulf oil spill – dolphins washed ashore, sea turtles dead, pelicans coated in oil. Yet for scientists attempting to count the cost of the Gulf oil spill to local wildlife, the task is not nearly so obvious.

Many dead animals could be sinking before being discovered in the vast Gulf. Autopsies of those found are usually inconclusive, because toxins are quickly metabolized by animal tissue. And the Gulf has long had its own set of environmental problems.

Gulf oil spill: Will a hurricane throw off efforts at the well?

Coast Guard officials are preparing for the possibility that they’ll need to temporarily shut down efforts to deal with the Gulf oil spill as a low-pressure system develops in the western Caribbean.

A low-pressure system developing in the western Caribbean has Coast Guard officials preparing for the possibility that they’ll need to temporarily shut down efforts to deal with the Gulf oil spill.

A US Air Force plane was conducting a reconnaissance mission Friday to determine the strength of the storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Already, the hurricane center has predicted that the low-pressure system has an 80 percent chance of becoming a hurricane in the next 48 hours as it moves toward the Yucatán Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico.

In a media briefing with reporters Friday morning, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said he will suspend recovery efforts if winds reach a gale force of 40 knots or greater (46 miles an hour or more) and the storm is judged to be at least 120 hours away from hitting the base of operations at the well.

Could 'toxic storm' make beach towns uninhabitable?

Residents fear mass relocations should a hurricane kick the Gulf oil spill onto resort towns. ‘Hazmat cards’ are a hot commodity among residents, since they could be the key to return.

Ron Greve expects the worst is yet to come in the oil spill drama that is haranguing beach towns all along the US Gulf Coast. So, like a growing number of residents, the Pensacola Beach solar-cell salesman took a hazardous materials class and received a “hazmat card” upon graduation.

Those cards, says Mr. Greve, could become critical in coming weeks and months. In the case of a hurricane hitting the 250-mile wide slick and pushing it over sand dunes and into beach towns, residents fear they’ll face not only mass evacuations, but potential permanent relocation.

Storm-wizened locals know that it can take days, even weeks, for roads to open and authorities to allow residents to return to inspect the damage and start to rebuild after a hurricane moves through.