Oceanographers tracking the flow of the Gulf Coast oil spill say they are concerned about the oil suspended in deep waters, not just the “tar balls” expected to wash up on East Coast beaches.
Larry Cahoon, a professor of marine biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said most oil accidents occur near the ocean’s surface. But the Gulf Coast oil spill is spewing from a rift about 5,000 feet deep.
“It’s real hard to say what will happen with the underwater stuff,” Cahoon said, adding that most oceanographic equipment is not made to analyze water toxicity below the surface.
Peter Ortner, a University of Miami professor and oceanographer, said the amount of oil lurking in deep waters could be the greatest threat.
“It’s not necessarily true that the bulk of the oil is at the surface,” Ortner said.
Oil in the “water column” beneath the surface would not be exposed to much oxygen or sunlight, and therefore would be less likely to break down and form tar balls, Cahoon explained.
“The surface story is bad enough, but the underwater part of this is something we’ve never dealt with before,” Cahoon said. “We’re in for some surprises here. Unfortunately.”
Ortner said the recurring Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico eventually would carry the oil around the Florida Peninsula and into the path of the Gulf Stream. That stream runs north along the eastern seaboard before turning out into the Atlantic around Norfolk, Va. But strong winds could send that oil toward North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland beaches, Ortner said.
Both Cahoon and Ortner said the oil could take between three weeks and several months to reach the East Coast, but the damage that oil below the surface could cause is not certain.
“Whether that oil is of an ecologically significant amount is still unclear,” Ortner said.
