Click on the photos to enlarge.
See where the well is?
See the oil slick?
See the top of the Gulf Loop Current in middle of the bottom of the picture.
See where the Loop Current captures the oil slick and starts transporting it East.
The Loop Current
"The Loop Current is an area of warm water that comes up from the Caribbean, flowing past the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico. From there, it curves east across the Gulf and flows south parallel to the west Florida Coast. As it flows between Florida and Cuba it becomes the Florida Current as it moves through the Florida Straits, where it joins the Gulf Stream as it travels up the Atlantic Coast." --ENS
Not To Worry
"NOAA explained in a statement that in the time it would take for the Deepwater Horizon oil to travel to the vicinity of the Florida Straits, it would be "highly weathered" and both the natural process of evaporation and the application of chemical dispersants would reduce the oil volume.
The oil may get caught in a clockwise eddy in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, and not be carried to the Florida Straits at all, NOAA said.
Oil entrained in the Loop Current would require persistent onshore winds or an eddy on the edge of the Loop Current for it to reach the Florida shoreline. The weathered and diluted oil would likely appear in isolated locations in the form of tar balls, NOAA said. " ---ENS
Sounds like a sophisticated version of this:
"The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
So where does the loop go this time of year.
This is the loop and the Gulf Stream.
Will the oil evaporate along the way?
How about the under water oil plumes?
Do they really exist?
How about the anaerobic dead zone plumes that the bacteria eating the oil will create?
Will they disperse?
The Saga continues.
For how long?
During a news conference, David Halstead, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, showed off a picture of a Coppertone bottle on a beach.
"What's the only oil on the beaches? Suntan oil," Halstead said.
"What's the only oil on the beaches? Suntan oil," Halstead said.
2 comments:
NOAA is backtracking a bit:
"In addition to the oil washing up in Louisiana, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday that a small portion of the slick had entered the so-called loop current, a stream of fast moving water that circulates around the Gulf before bending around Florida and up the Atlantic coast. Its arrival may portend a wider environmental catastrophe affecting the Florida Keys and tourist-dotted beaches along that state's east coast."
Ah Ha! We found out where the underwater oil plumes are going!
They are going on shore. They are going UNDER the oil containment booms and then come up slope on to the shores.
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