Science Says: Those 3-D Underwater Oil Plumes Belong to BP

(2PM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)

Now for a little exercise in News Spin Cycles, vs the Scientific Process …

When the Facts, finally come in, IS Anyone even still Paying Attention?

“What we have learned completely changes the idea of what an oil spill is,” said chemical oceanographer David Hollander, one of three USF researchers credited with the matching samples of oil taken from the water with samples from the BP well. “It has gone from a two-dimensional disaster to a three-dimensional catastrophe.”

[…]

Together, the two studies confirm what in the early days of the spill was denied by BP and viewed skeptically by NOAA’s chief – that much of the crude that gushed from the Deepwater Horizon well stayed beneath the surface of the water.

[link to follow]

Researchers confirm subsea Gulf oil plumes are from BP well

Miami Herald

By Sara Kennedy, McClatchy Newspapers — Friday, 07/23/10

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Through a chemical fingerprinting process, University of South Florida [USF] researchers have definitively linked clouds of underwater oil in the northern Gulf of Mexico to BP’s runaway Deepwater Horizon well – the first direct scientific link between the subsurface oil clouds commonly known as “plumes” and the BP oil spill, USF officials said Friday.

Until now, scientists had circumstantial evidence, but lacked that definitive scientific link.

The announcement came on the same day that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that its researchers have confirmed the existence of the subsea plumes at depths of 3,300 to 4,300 feet below the surface of the Gulf. NOAA said its detection equipment also implicated the BP well in the plumes’ creation.

[…]

“The clouds were found near the DeSoto Canyon, a critical area that interacts with Florida’s spawning grounds,” USF said.

It’s a Critical Area of concern, now in one of the Underwater Oil Cloud’s trajectory …

So where is the equivalent Concern, in the Media News Cycle locomotive express?  … to inform the Public …

The 3-D Disaster is still unfolding.

Scientists Confirm Underwater Plumes Are From Spill

By John Collins Rudolf, NYTimes, July 23, 2010

The discovery of the plumes several weeks into the oil leak alarmed scientists, who feared that clouds of oil particles could wreak havoc on marine life far below the surface. Plumes have been detected as far as 50 miles from the wellhead, although oil concentrations at those distances are extremely low, about 750 parts per billion.

This is well below the level considered acutely toxic for fish and marine organisms, but could still affect eggs and larvae, the scientists fear.

[…]

The multiagency report describes the presence of large plumes of microscopic oil droplets within several miles of the wellhead at a depth of 3,280 to 4,265 feet. Oil concentrations there are as high as 10 parts per million, or the equivalent of one tablespoon of oil in 130 gallons of water.

[…]

“We know that even low concentrations can be harmful to the eggs and larvae of the deep coral,” [Steve Murawski] said.

[…]

The federal report also described a drop in dissolved oxygen levels in deep water near the well, which it said probably resulted from the rapid reproduction of oil-eating microbes. Yet the reduction did not signal conditions that could cause a die-off in sea life, the report concluded.

The ultimate impact of the oil plumes on sea life in the gulf remains open to debate. A plume has been found near DeSoto Canyon, an underwater valley south of the Florida Panhandle where ocean currents push nutrient-rich water up onto the continental shelf. Some scientists fear that oil, even in the low concentrations found in the plumes, could be driven into the shelf’s life-rich shallow waters and cause harm.

“It’s almost an express route up there,” Dr. Hollander said. “That’s what raises the concerns of the biologists.”

Where is the breathless breaking ticker tape parades, for Scientists announcing the extent of BP’s Disaster —

It’s not just Surface-deep Anymore!

Researchers confirm subsea Gulf oil plumes are from BP well page 2

By Sara Kennedy, McClatchy Newspapers — Friday, 07/23/10  

Steven Murawski, chief scientist for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, said the data confirm that the subsea plumes of oil were the result of the Deepwater Horizon well.

“That’s a real smoking gun, as far as we’re concerned,” he said. “It really is a flow” from the well.

In May, when scientists first reported that they had discovered oil beneath the Gulf’s surface and blamed it on the Deepwater Horizon spill, they were denounced by both BP and NOAA chief Jane Lunchenco.

BP CEO Tony Hayward denied that such plumes existed and Lubchecno called the reports “misleading, premature and, in some cases, inaccurate.”

I hate to say, I told you so … But …

I called it, for the BS it was. … The Day the Obvious was denied, by the Corporate Figurehead of the moment:

Tony Hayward issues Executive Order: Plumes do not Exist.

by jamess — May 31, 2010

And I reported on the seriously concerned Scientists, who were being scolded, by their higher-ups at the time, NOT to speak their minds — NOT without proof.

Don’t speak out of school — just keep those Lab Coats on … those lips, buttoned shut:

Scientists on the trail of some New Plumes of Unknown Origin

by jamess — May 28, 2010

NOT That getting that “Scientific Proof” really helps the Decision Makers, to make better, more timely, Decisions most times, anyways.

Otherwise, those same leaders, would consider the Expert Opinions of those same Scientists, in times of emergency — how often does that happen?

SO Florida Coral Reefs are next on the BP Hit Parade …

What do those Florida Coral Reefs look like anyways… in case the worse case … continues to unfold as [NOW STILL] predicted:

Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Sometimes you just don’t know what you have, until it’s gone

National Marine Sanctuary Introduction Video



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Some more Fun Facts on Coral — which are alive, by the way …

DHR: Coral and Oil  

May 13, 2010

General Coral Reef Facts

Based on current estimates, shallow water coral reefs occupy approximately 284,300 square kilometers (110,000 square miles) of the sea floor. If all of the world’s shallow water coral reefs were placed side-by-side, they would occupy an area a bit larger than the state of Texas.

The total area of coral reefs represents less than 0.015 percent of the ocean. Yet coral reefs harbor more than one quarter of the ocean’s biodiversity. No other ecosystem occupies such a limited area with more life forms.

Reefs are often compared to rainforests, which are the only other ecosystem that can boast anywhere near the amount of biodiversity found on a reef. Coral reefs are sometimes called rainforests of the seas.

Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?

about the way we callously treat, our cozy Planet Home.

Coral Reefs — the hypersensitive Rainforests of the Sea —

are about to be paid a visit, from the [NOW CONFIRMED] 3-D Underwater Plumes, from BP …

The Florida Coral Reefs may be Next …

by jamess — Jun 04, 2010

OUR Scientists — REALLY DO deserve a MUCH Better Forum, than they usually get, from our spin-cycle Media, and from our overwhelmed Leaders …

IMHO, of course.  Far be it from me, to ‘speak out of school’, lol.

Addendum:

Here’s an interesting Underwater Gulf Clip (h/t to FishOutofWater)

Black Plague of Death Lurks Below, BP Booms the Press

by FishOutofWater — Jul 08, 2010

If demonstrates graphically the Zones of Deaths,

just Lurking below the surface.  

But it remains …

Out of sight — out of mind!  … Thanks to our Media.