Oil Slick in Current Loop
NOAA's latest observations indicate that a small portion of the oil slick has reached the Loop Current in the form of light to very light sheens. NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator Charles Henry noted that in the time it would take for oil to travel to the vicinity of the Florida Straits, any oil would be highly weathered and both the natural process of evaporation and the application of chemical dispersants would reduce the oil volume significantly.
NOAA spill specialists continue to advise the US Coast Guard on cleanup options as well as advising all affected federal, state and local partners on sensitive marine resources at risk in this area of the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA experts are conducting aerial surveys to update trajectory maps and visually track the movement of the spill.
Admiral Mary Landry noted that weather has aided spill cleanup in recent days, allowing for several controlled burns and collection of fairly high concentrations of oil-water mix. Admiral Landry closed the press conference on an optimistic note. "If top kill works we will demob," she says. "Let's all cross our fingers and say our prayers." She added that in any event, the unprecedented federal, state and local government and private sector response would continue to address the impacts of this spill of national significance on the people and environment of the Gulf.
BP is preparing for the top kill (shooting mud down the well to halt the spill) operation expected next week. The riser insertion pipe continues to produce oil to the surface.
NOAA's Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program (DARRP) is conducting a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). From past experience, NOAA is concerned about oil impacts to fish, shellfish, marine mammals, turtles, birds and other sensitive resources, as well as their habitats, including wetlands, mudflats, beaches, bottom sediments and the water column. Any lost uses of these resources, for example, fishery and beach closures, will also be evaluated. The focus currently is to assemble existing data on resources and their habitats and collect baseline (pre-spill impact) data. Data on oiled resources and habitats are also being collected.
Image: this Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image, acquired on 18 May 2010, advanced processing methods have been performed to display ocean surface roughness variations and Doppler-derived ocean surface radial velocities around the oil spill area in the Gulf of Mexico. A long tendril of the oil spill (outlined in white) is visible extending down into the Loop Current (red arrow). Image Courtesy: CLS.
