Reply #11: Gulf of Mexico is doing well

[social_critic]

Most researchers agree, the Gulf of Mexico is recovering quite well from the oil spill. The bacteria present in the water had evolved to eat oil from seeps, and were quite useful eating a lot of the oil. Here's some information. And don't forget lots of fisherment and individuals in the tourist industry live down there, irresponsible statements hurt their livelyhood, so please read a little before you "kill the gulf", ok?

Oil budget (what happened to the oil?):

http://www.restorethegulf.gov/release/2010/11/24/transcript-oil-budget-press-call

This site has a map showing the latest impact estimates:

http://gomex.erma.noaa.gov/erma.html#x=-88.58276&y=28.22697&z=7&layers=5723+13905+13906+13589+13952+13989

To understand what the map says, click on the "LEGEND" tag to the right.

The Obama administration has done a pretty good job handling the spill, they got BP to agree to pay for the damage, and thus far the impact seems to be less than expected last summer. Science is going to take a huge leap forward understanding oil spills, and the oil industry has learned a huge lesson - it will have to improve its safety record or else.