Oil Slicks Sighted Yesterday 16 Miles from BP / Deepwater Horizon Spill Site
Bonny Schumaker from On Wings of Care has been very busy flying the Gulf lately. Yesterday she flew out over the site of the BP / Deepwater Horizon oil spill. About 16 miles northeast of the spill site, she ran across extensive oil slicks that look to us like a lot more than the typical natural oil seep normally produces. Check out her report with a photo gallery and video.
There is a known seep location less than 2 miles to the south. The nearest oil platform is 8 miles to the east; the closest pipeline is >5 miles to the northeast. MODIS satellite images taken yesterday afternoon showed nothing unusual in the area, and the most recent radar image for the site was taken back on August 26. We’ll keep looking and let you know what we learn.
Oil slicks on August 30, 2011 about 16 miles northeast of the BP / Deepwater Horizon spill site. Photograph courtesy Bonny Schumaker / On Wings of Care.
Location of oil slicks documented by Bonny Schumaker on August 30, 2011. BP oil spill site (Deepwater Horizon wreckage) shown for reference.
Map showing August 30 flight line (pale blue), seafloor oil and gas pipelines (yellow), oil and gas platforms (orange dots), natural oil seeps (green dots), and BP oil spill site relative to slicks observed on August 30. Backdrop is shaded-relief bathymetry (seafloor “topography”).
