New perspectives on Gulf of Mexico oil spill 
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Author: Sterling Zumbrunn ( sterlingz )
Now over a month into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion and subsequent gusher from BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig, the world got a whole new perspective on the disaster yesterday as ABC’s Good Morning America and Philippe Cousteau Jr. dived below the surface of the spill. Donning hazmat equipment for diving in toxic environments, corespondent Sam Champion and Cousteau, grandson of the great explorer Jacques Cousteau, provided a powerful underwater look at what has now been proclaimed to be the worst oil spill in U.S. history. You can watch the segment here.
The impacts of this spill will not be fully understood for some time to come. But in addition to the obvious threats to wetlands and shore birds, it is thought that some of the biggest marine animals, including bluefin tuna and whale sharks may be affected.
Meanwhile, Paul Rademacher, engineering director for Google Maps, found the sheer magnitude of the oil spill difficult to comprehend, and has created a way to overlay the size of the oil spill over a map of your own region to put things in perspective. You can read more about it and do a comparison to where you live here.
Members of the Wetpixel community on the front lines of this disaster are encouraged to submit images to SkyTruth, who has set up a special website for tracking the oil spill that is built off of user-generated observations, photos and videos. You can learn more at the Gulf Oil Spill Tracker.
As Phillipe Cousteau Jr. so aptly put it, “this is a nightmare.” Let us hope that BP’s ”Top Kill” procedure that is currently underway is fully successful at staunching the flow of oil.
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Comment(s):Watching this unfold is an amazing nightmare.
Some images here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100524/sc_ynews/ynews_sc2199
Posted by TheRealDrew on 05/26 at 09:36 PMWe are the only ones that can tell the masses topside about the calamity underwater. The oil is congregating underwater in huge plumes because of the toxic dispersment. BP is betting on “out of sight is out of mind. “ DO NOT LET BP GET AWAY WITH THIS”. We ARE the guardians and need in any way possible show what is really happening to this already fragile ecosystem. Get the images that will explain this plight and let’s get them out there in any media opportunity. More horrific pics, the better. This is environmental war, and we are on the fore front in documenting a disaster of never seen proportions for many years to come. -Bo
Posted by fotoscubo714 on 05/31 at 09:58 AM“DO NOT LET BP GET AWAY WITH THIS”.
I was under the impression they were hiring hundreds of people to try to stop this leak that resulted from an accident that killed 11 people. I didn’t know they were trying to “get away with this”. I also didn’t know they were betting on “out of sight is out of mind”. You must be very close to the situation to know all of this.
I learn something new every day!Posted by cdoyal on 06/01 at 07:39 AMGiven the recent oil spill news we are listening to about day soon after day, I’m sure by now we all know who BP is, even if we didn’t before. I just hope that their new cleaning procedure called “Top Kill” be successful because it has brought a lot of destruction not only to the environment but it also brought danger to people’s lives in the coastal area.
Posted by HaleyV on 06/02 at 10:27 PM
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