Oil Spill

[Danley]

Hello, everyone, I would love to hear your thoughts on the oil spill! Also, if you live near a coast with some oil, or maye even effects post some pictures, that would be wonderful! I'm planning to use some of this for an article for environmental science. Also, just out of curiousity, so let's hear it!

[sunil6784]

Just out of curiosity... why are all these threads getting closed? Is it against forum rules?

[Danley]

To e honest, I wasn't even sure they would close these down. If an admin could maybe tell me before or if he closes this thread. I'm not looking to create fights, just hear peoples opinions.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by sunil6784

Just out of curiosity... why are all these threads getting closed? Is it against forum rules?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1854948

[Danley]

Gotcha, it makes sense, thanks!

[Drewbaby]

I'm in central Fl. about 1 1/2 hours from the west or east coast, pretty much dead center, but at this point I'm hoping they can keep the oil from drifting toward the keys and up around to the east coast because that's our main source of tourism. I was talking to a hobbyist from a west coast reef club who owns alot of rental property there and he said in the last month 90% of his clients cancelled their reservations for this summer so now he is selling his big reef tank to try and make the bills. The spill is already taking a big toll on the people I just can't imagine what it's doing to the animals. I heard in Louisiana that the hermit crabs and snails are actually coming out of the water and end up dying on land just to escape the sludge.

There's an organization here in central Florida that's accepting volunteers just in case the oil reaches our coasts. So hopefully it doesn't happen, but were trying to prepare.

My biggest concern is the staghorn and elkhorn corals down in the Caribbean because they are already like 90% extinct in the wild

[GhostCon1]

I don't see why snails and hermits would be crawling/sliding from the sand/reef to get onto the beach when oil floats over water because it is less dense.

[Danley]

Hmm... Could the oil be mixing with the water due to water slamming up against rocks? IDK. I guess it would make sense though because reefs are typically in shallow areas. I live on the east coast of Florida, and I'm crossing my fingers for the keys as well. I actually have some dead staghorns that I found washed up in my room. =D Anyways, Im going to Panama city on June 11th and Im hoping the oil doesnt hit the coastline! I would really love to help if it does somehow. Especially in the keys! Has anyone heard any news on it hitting the coast? Last time I checked it was around 9 miles off the panhandle. Also does anyone know of any Live feed of the spill?

[GhostCon1]

msnbc.com had a live feed of the leak at 5,000ft.

[jchase1970]

to bad we can't have a clean discussion about this topic. But really where can it lead other then finger pointing and blame giving. So whats left to talk about, yeah its terrible.

[GhostCon1]

It was going good.

[HippieSmell]

I would think that the dispersant that they are using will be even worse for the coral and basically everything else under the water. Without the dispersant, the oil will float to the top and probably be worse for the coastline, but big globs landing on the reefs will probably cause more damage. Not to mention the toxicity of the dispersant itself. It all makes me sick to my stomach tbh.

[redfishsc]

To answer the OP's question, and attempting to reign in my emotions, here goes....

--My heart and prayers go out to the families of those killed in the explosion, and to all those on the Gulf Coast who now have an utterly ruined summer season (fishing, tourism, etc..) and likely years of recovery.


-- I fear that the damage being done to the environment will take decades to remove and correct, especially in the coastal wetlands.

--I personally believe that the reaction to the oil spill (ie, correction/containment) was too little, too slow, too late, and a tremendous act of irresponsibility on the part of several companies/agencies/administrations.


--Where is the Eco-Aqualizer when you need it?

[HippieSmell]

I would like to ask the mods to allow this thread to remain open. People want to discuss this so badly, and really should be allowed some leeway because of the historical nature of this disaster. I know it's extra work for the mods, but this is worth discussing. At the very least it would allow fellow reefers who live down there to post what they're seeing.

[Gangrene]

I watched on CNN as they put a camera under the water and it was disgusting. It seems from the wave action that the oil is mixing quite a bit with the water and there were little globs pretty deep and it was disgusting.

I hear it is to hit florida soon.

In alaska some fish died out and never returned. They still have tons of oil there. This will not be cleaned up and will probably kill life for centuries. This is a HUGE disaster. I heard on the news today that this is the biggest disaster in US history.

I'm especially concerned with the dispersant that sinks the oil... and the long term effects of having it down there.

I really appreciate the admins keeping this open. I agree, this is really important. Maybe you can just remove the individual posts that are a problem?

[HippieSmell]

This might be the Chernobyl of the ocean. If the latest efforts to stop the oil fail, they have a couple more things to try, then that's it. The only other options after that are to drill relief wells that will take until August(!), or nuke it. Honestly, I'm thinking a small nuke a few thousand feet under the sea floor sounds better than two more months of this. At that point it would be something like 4 Valdez's, and that I think is being very very conservative. I wouldn't be surprised if it was around 20 Valdez's. Not to mention the economic hit we're taking as a country. I'm sure this is not going to help the recovery.

[GhostCon1]

@HippieSmell - Exxon Valdez vs BP Oil Spill. Also, love your avatar.

[AuroraDrvr]

The oil spill is expected to land here (Alabama Coastline) tonight/tomorrow some time. Larger quantities of tar balls have been washing up on the barrier islands all day, though the tar made it here a few weeks ago. There is a notable presence of cleanup crews at most of the inlets, lagoon entrances, etc. But in realistic terms, not nearly enough presence to do much of anything, except look good to the public eye.

The big issue is that the dispersant agents have actually created under water plumes of crude, which are not visible on the surface. Which means the oil slick is probably much larger than most think and oil will affect reefs and other marine wildlife more-so than surface slicks.

[jchase1970]

does anyone know what the dispersants really do? It has to change crude oil to something else, I guess but what?

[hoffy02]

Ibtl

[greenbean36191]

It's highly unlikely that the Keys will see anything more than tar balls or very scattered patches of weathered oil if any makes it down here at all. It might be a nightmare for tourism and would have isolated ecological impacts if it makes it here, but it won't be the widespread ecological catastrophe that it is on the Gulf Coast.

In any event, reefs generally aren't harmed much by oil because although the oil is highly toxic to many corals (literally as deadly to them as cyanide), actual contact is limited. There have been studies done in the Keys where Acropora were covered in oil, and while they weren't happy about it, they weren't measurably harmed by the exposure. There have also unfortunately been lots of real-world accidents that have served as case studies of the effects of oil on reefs. As it turns out, the damage tends to be relatively limited unless dispersants are used, in which case the damage can be catastrophic. Fortunately, NOAA is well aware of the fact that applying dispersants to oil near reefs is about the worst thing you can do, and they recommend against it in their response manual.