Hydrosphere Journal Entry

Hydrosphere Journal Entry

Oil Keeps Spilling Into Gulf (May 15, 2010)

Oil keeps gushing from the ruptured well on the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico. So far, nothing has worked to stop the leak. More than 200,000 gallons of oil per day have leaked into the sea since an oil rig exploded off the Louisiana coast last month. Workers recently placed a huge steel box over the broken well. But the device become clogged with hydrates, crystal-like structures that form when gas combines with cold water to create an icy slush.

This week, the oil drilling company prepared to lower a smaller box called a "top hat" to the sea floor to cover the leak. The box, only 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall, allows less seawater into the system. In principle at least, this should reduce the formation of hydrates. The back-up plan is an option called a riser insertion tube. The tube would slip into a broken pipe from the well to intercept the gushing oil and funnel it to the surface. The long-term plan is to drill two relief wells on the ocean floor next to the damaged one, but the job could take months to complete.

Meanwhile, four million gallons of oil have already spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. At the current rate, the spill could soon become the worst in the nation's history, passing the 11-million gallon Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989. The massive oil slick has spread hundreds of miles from its source. This week, tar balls washed up on Dauphin Island along the Alabama coast. The NOAA closed more than 10,000 square miles (25,000 sq. km) to fishing in Gulf of Mexico, from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

The toxic oil threatens hundreds of species of birds, fish, and other wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico and on beaches and marshes along the Gulf Coast. So far, only a handful of oil-covered birds have been found and brought to wildlife rescue centers. Seven dead dolphins and about 100 sea turtles have washed ashore, but none were coated in oil. Biologists are studying tissue samples to see if the animals died from eating oil-contaminated prey.

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the world's richest sources of seafood. The oil threatens oyster beds, shrimp, bluefin tuna, and many other kinds of seafood. A pod of sperm whales and sea turtles in the northern Gulf are also in great danger. Oil is especially harmful to sea birds. The sticky oil robs feathers of their ability to insulate from the cold. Birds can get sick from licking the toxic goo off their feathers. Oil can also make it difficult for them to fly, or cause them to lose buoyancy and drown. Bird species found along the Gulf Coast include the brown pelican, reddish egret, mottled duck, royal tern, and snowy plover.