CURRENT AFFAIRS: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill may be getting caught in the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current, as shown here in a picture from NASA's Terra satellite on May 17, 2010.
Image: NASA
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As a tendril of oil from BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster creeps south in the Gulf of Mexico—potentially already caught up in the swirl of a massive conveyor of ocean water known as the Loop Current—the larger question is, where will the at least 5 million gallons of oil already spilled end up?
"The proximity of the southeast tendril to the Loop Current means it is increasingly likely to become entrained," said marine biologist Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at a press briefing on May 18. If that happens, the oil will "reach Florida straits in eight to 10 days." Though tar balls found in Key West have not been linked to the ongoing spill, "the tar balls washing ashore in the Florida Keys are an example of what might happen should the oil become entrained in the Loop Current," Lubchenco said.
The Loop Current is just one part of a massive system of oceanic conveyor belts—and one that feeds into the more broadly known Gulf Stream that flows past the entire U.S. East Coast. At the same time, an eddy—a swirling maelstrom of seawater—is flowing in a circle directly above the Loop Current in the Gulf. So the oil is like a baseball in a pitching machine, caught between two swirling currents and just as likely to head north to the Gulf Coast as south to Florida and the Atlantic.
"If this stuff comes onshore, a lot of birds are going to die," said ecologist Roger Helm, chief of the division of environmental quality at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). As a result, the Department of the Interior has teamed with a number of Gulf states to submit a proposal to the Army Corps of Engineers to build a giant sandbar offshore of barrier islands—a relatively permanent way to keep the oil off the coast. "The project is still being developed," said FWS acting director Rowan Gould, a marine biologist, at the May 18 press briefing. "There is no timeline about when any decisions are going to be made."
As for oil beneath the surface, which may have been detected in massive plumes by the research vessel Pelican, that is more likely to remain in place. "Below 50 meters, the velocity of this current drops off dramatically," said NOAA chief science advisor Steve Murawski, a fisheries biologist, giving those oil particles more time to clump and sink to the bottom or wash ashore. But what happens when the oil hits those communities that live on the seafloor, such as Lophelia coral, remains unknown. "This ecosystem is not totally devoid of at least some hydrocarbons in the water," Murawski added. "Those issues are going to play out over time as we document where the oil has been and at what concentrations.... We've never had this substantial an oil leak a mile down."
Added NOAA director of marine mammal health and stranding response Teri Rowles, a veterinarian, impacts on "those species living in deep water, like sperm whales, may not be detected," because dead whales simply disappear beneath the waves. Plus, the use of dispersants beneath the surface to break up the oil into droplets may make it more damaging to deep-sea wildlife. "Instead of having big chunks of oil that are very buoyant and move very quickly to the surface, you have microdroplets with an enormous surface-to-volume ratio, which then are captured by the viscosity of the seawater. They're stuck down there," says environmental chemist Jeffrey Short of environmental group Oceana, who has studied the aftereffects of the Exxon Valdez spill. "Ancient deep-water corals, which are suspension feeders, are extraordinarily efficient at accumulating microdroplets of oil. It's a major unseen impact."
Much of the oil will also end up trapped in big eddies—like the infamous Pacific Garbage Patch or the Sargasso Sea—which is where sea turtles and other ocean life like to congregate. "Most of those mortalities will never make their way to shore to be counted," said NOAA national sea turtle coordinator Barbara Schroeder.
As a result of all this, NOAA has extended its fishery closures to shut down more than 45,000 square miles of Gulf waters—roughly 19 percent of all federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. "This spill is significant and in all likelihood will affect fish and wildlife across the Gulf, if not all of North America, for years if not decades," said FWS's Gould. "We may never know the spill's impacts on many species of birds and marine life, given how far offshore they are found."
And ultimately, if the oil gets pulled by the Loop Current into the Gulf Stream, it will end up far to the north: the Arctic. "A lot depends on what the ocean currents do and what the winds do in terms of actual transportation," Lubchenco said, although it is clear that high-speed travel will expose the oil to more weathering and more dilution, which reduces its impact on ocean ecosystems. Once in the far north, the remnants of the oil would sink to the bottom, entering the cold, dark deep for a millennia-long journey along the seafloor. "This oil spill is unprecedented and dynamic," Lubchenco said, and it is likely to be part of the ocean for a long time.
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18 Comments
Add CommentBP will end up paying for the spill (aka: we'll pay for it at the pump), but who will pay for all the lost jobs and food? BP? I hardly think so.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs I read this description I began to know and feel the enormity of what is going on in the Gulf.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisClose behind that understanding is that this will probably happen again, in another place and in another time.
It is time for sober thought, and think again.
It will end up in History books - as the worst spill to date.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI suspect that before the collapse of supportive technology, it will happen at least a dozen times more, when the wells and refineries come under the control of the corporations with no intermediary government controls.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBet on it. I want to be a citizen of Google or IBM... I have contacts at both.
please review this clip. It is about a very effective, low tech method for assisting the oil removal effort in the Gulf. Don't let prejudices fool you, these guys know what they are doing and their adsorption method is sound. The method is not a panacea, but will dramatically improve the removal of surface oil in a much more affordable fashion and probably more efficiently. Help spread the word that this could potentially save us billions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/
It is unbelievable that our government did not foresee an environmental disaster coming with deep water drilling and question the BIG oil companies about their plan with a disaster. God gave us a beautiful planet and life and plenty of food. Politicians with BIG OIL money have caused little, if any, oversight and the public is going to pay dearly for many years. God help Florida if they lose tourism and fishing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBIG OIL $$$ and Politicians need to pay dearly for this environmental disaster! How can these companies drill down a mile deep and have no plan in place for a disaster? How can the govt. regulators not foresee this problem and ask questions about the oil company's plans if there was a pipeline/oil platform disaster? It's called Safety and Risk Management and apparently our politicians sold the public out again with soft laws and no oversight, which has caused this mess. God has provided us with a beautiful planet, life and plenty of food. Oil companies are playing with fire because they didn't plan for a disater 1 mile down with an immediate response to limit the damage. God help Florida if they lose tourism and fishing!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy is it that I am not shocked whatsoever, by corporations-be it "big oil", the global banktaz, the military industrial complex et. al. --wantonly raping the planet?? Because after more than 60 years, I know that MONEY RULES! In her great book "Econned", Yves Smith noted that clever humans in the world's 1st city, Ur, created a type of financial derivative. Humans! Some are cool, some are evil, and most are uniformed. 'Sorry about my riff re: Reality as we know it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBig oil has been behind much of the mayhem inflicting the planet for the last 65 years. It was BP with the help of British Intelligence and the CIA that overthrew the Iranian democracy and gave the world the Shah of Iran. Look where we are today because of the greed of BP.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt was big oil that became worried over the Indonesian Revolution in 1965 which resulted in over a million Indonesian deaths and gave credence to the Domino Theory. Inturn, that gave us the Vietnam War.
It was big oil that got us into the first and second Gulf War.
It is big oil that gave the rationalization for introducing nuclear weapons into the Middle East (via Israel.....if you don't believe that then can you explain the existence of Israel w/o the existence of the Saudi Oil Fields?).
It was big oil's pursuit of profits that killed millions of Vietnamese, Iraqis, Indonesians, and tens of thousands of others from Burma to Bolivia.
I know this borders on single factor analysis but when a trillion dollar industry with strong international political ties seems always to be the specter in the background when the horrors are unleashed, then how do you explain the history of the last 65 years?
In the Potomac, I hope. Congrats, Congress! Good Job.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEvereyone get real! The magnitude of this release of oil from a source so deep on the gulf's floor is greater than BP billions and the many thousands of governmental screwups ever made. BP knows that what is occurring below is the massive opening of an underwater oil field not likely to be controlled by any mechanical, digital, or nanoid means. This is a
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thispandora's box with ramifications that no worst-case scenario has ever been concieved. The first thing is to get BP authority out of there, keep the BP-backed politicos - whom are widespread and at the top as well as bottom - out of the decisionmaking, take control of BP's assets, including all stateside bank accounts, that is if the month they have had didn't allowed them to transfer it all - where is HOMELAND SECURITY again - and put real and compassionate experts on this huge task. We must recognize that the dispersionary chemical processes are only attempting to make this look better than it really is and it has bought BP 30 days. This will go down in history as the " great chemical dispersion cover-up".
As along as we vote for people who can be so easily bought we deserve what we get!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy hasn't anyone contacted Wild Fire Technologies, Inc. I've been told they have equipment (and experience) to stop the leak. We wil listen to Kevin Costner, but not a viable group that can solve the problem?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisO.K. I have contacted congress people, news networks, and environmental organizations, with no response. The Wildfire Technologies has experience with the Kuwait oil field fires, I checked their website. They've had this patent since 1991. They have a patented hydraulic clamping system that can produce up to and exceed 1.2 million pounds pressure creating a force of 5,000 psi enough to close off the riser pipe and other pipe leakages. http://www.wildfiretechnologies, inc. Maybe if we made enough noise, someone might look into it. There is also a video on youtube about it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5yOddUOXiM
Check it out - you guys are the scientific community. what do you think?
As I read these comments, what stands out to me is even more so how unbelievable it is that Obama has given 26 new certificates to drill. Why is he not holding true to his word and beginning to work towards alternative energy investments? He is not even using this example to begin dialogue. I'm so disappointed -- just like those before him -- his constituents are corporations, not people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat does it take???
What I'm struck by most when reading these comments is that Obama has given 26 new permits to drill! He has been such a huge disappointment! Why doesn't he take this opportunity to invest in alternative energy? He's hasn't even used this example to begin a dialogue. What will it take? He's just like the others before him -- his constituents are corporations, not people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSDW,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds good, but will it work in 5,000 feet of sea water?
Your ideas sound plausible however, isnt the real culprit the modern system of living we all enjoy? Turning up the thermostat, turning the ignition key on our car creates the demand which is satisfied by the oil industry. Were it not for the invention of the internal combustion engine, the oil industry may never have developed into such a potent force. The need and desire for propulsion systems coupled with millions of internal combustion devices beyond the reach of the human arm is the real culprit. We need new systems of sustainable propulsion for the post modern world we now exist in......
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