Best pictures of BP oil spill in Goolgle Earth

[John Ranalletta]

Open Google Earth (not google.com/maps). Focus on Gulf and spot a single flame-like icon. Click on the icon to get a huge list of photos.

[ESokoloff]

They need some underwater shots of the plumes.....

Oh I forgot, oil floats on top, not under the water.

[motoguy128]

BP claimed this morning the underwater plumes are overestimated and there is not any physical evidence to support their existance. They claim water samples only show trace amounts of oil. Not that trace amounts are insignificant either.

 

I'm torn. I don't trust BP, but I'm highly skeptical of the media and anything that comes out the mouth of an environmental scientist.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

BP claimed this morning the underwater plumes are overestimated and there is not any physical evidence to support their existance. They claim water samples only show trace amounts of oil. Not that trace amounts are insignificant either.

 

Article here.

 

NOAA describes the plumes as consisting of "very low concentrations" of oil. The agency's boats are in the Gulf to gather additional samples, said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

Since there are no hard numbers, it's anybody's guess as to what "very low concentrations" means, but it's probably safe to say that there's not a gargantuan blob of pure crude lumbering along in the depths.

[motoguy128]

That's the interview I heard the morning.

 

I think the perception is that there's thick heavy concentration of oil flwoing and all depths. But hte reality is that while there are some "lwo concentraions in hte water, the vast majority is on the surface.

 

That's not to say that it doesn't pose any risk to wildlife. Just that the term "plumes" would seem to indicate something thick, heavy, and visible.

 

It would be to a certain degree like calling the exhaust out of my car a plume of particulate pollution. While there are some particulates comming out of a car exhaust on occasion. To call it a plume might be very accurate.