July 13th, 2010

While tar balls, oil-covered birds and dying turtles are the prevailing images of the Gulf oil spill, at least one marine biologist believes the public many not fully grasp the scope of the disaster. “Birds, sea turtles, and dolphins get most of the press, but all marine organisms in the Gulf of Mexico are threatened by the catastrophic oil spill,” says Paula Mikkelsen, a visiting fellow in Cornell University’s department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an associate director of the Cornell-affiliated Paleontological Research Institution. “Every habitat – from intertidal oyster bars and mangroves to deepwater sand plains — depends upon clean water to survive.”

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June 7th, 2010

Everyone knows there is a whole lot of oil floating around in the Gulf of Mexico, but where is it going? According to at least one computer modeling study, the Atlantic Coast and open ocean may be victims of the spill by as early as this summer. The results are captured in a series of animations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and others.

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May 19th, 2010

It’s happening. A “small portion” or “light sheen” of the BP oil slick has reached the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico, which could very likely carry it toward Florida, according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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May 5th, 2010

From Green Right Now Reports

Mindful of the tourists that visit the sunny, sandy Florida Keys year round, the Florida Keys & Key West Tourism Council has added an oil spill info section to its website to keep travelers posted on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

As the growing oil mess continues to float just off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, weather reporters have been speculating that it could, if it shifted southward, take flight on the gulf currents that carry water out of the area. That could carry oil around Florida and even up the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. to the Carolinas.

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