Scientists examine the density and size of Undersea oil plume

Scientist Awed by Size, Density of Undersea Oil Plume in Gulf

To read  full New York Times article click "Scientists Awed" above.

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Vast underwater concentrations of oil sprawling for miles in the Gulf of Mexico from the damaged, crude-belching BP PLC well are unprecedented in "human history" and threaten to wreak havoc on marine life, a team of scientists said today, a finding confirmed for the first time by federal officials.

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Bacteria are breaking down the oil's hydrocarbons in a massive, microorganism feeding frenzy that has sent oxygen levels plunging close to what is considered "dead zone" conditions, at which most marine life are smothered for a lack of dissolved oxygen.
Such low-oxygen conditions were noticed farther from the spill site, although Joye said she did not think the process would immediately produce a dead zone, since low nutrient concentrations in the water would limit the rate of the bacterial consumption.
Joye said her team also measured extremely high levels of methane, which is also spewing from the gushing BP well at up to 10,000 times background levels in Gulf waters.
"I've been working in the Gulf of Mexico for 15 years," Joye said. "I've never seen methane concentration this high anywhere in the water."

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"The primary producers -- the base of the food web in the ocean -- is going to be altered. There's no doubt about that," Joye said. "We have no idea what dispersants are going to do to microorganisms. We know they are toxic to many larvae. It's impossible to know what the impacts are going to be."

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It is beginning to become obvious to all who are observing the data coming in that the damage will not be limited to the Gulf of Mexico but move down the coast of Florida and up the Eastern Coast of the United States and finally out into the Atlantic as it reaches possibly New York or Boston while devastating coastlines and possibly birds and sea life on and under the sea the whole way. Where the currents will take it after going out into the middle of the Atlantic we are yet to see. However, the ocean currents are obvious and there for anyone to study to figure that out if they wish.

Then this will be also complicated by Hurricane Season in the Gulf of Mexico and wherever the currents take the oil on top of the water and below, since the underwater currents mostly mimic the surface currents.

Then the new danger of 10,000 times higher methane concentrations in the waters of the Gulf than ever seen before by scientists in the wild will also need to be further observed to see what life it kills and/ or extincts and what life it mutates and what  organic and inorganic bi-products it creates.