'Frothy Gunk' From Deepwater Horizon Spill Harming Coral 149
sciencehabit writes "The massive oil spill that inundated the Gulf of Mexico in the spring and summer of 2010 severely damaged deep-sea corals more than 11 kilometers from the well site, a sea-floor survey conducted within weeks of the spill reveals. At one site, which hadn't been visited before but had been right in the path of a submerged 100-meter-thick oil plume from the spill, researchers found a variety of corals — most of them belonging to a type of colonial coral commonly known as sea fans — on a 10-meter-by-12-meter outcrop of rock. Many of the corals were partially or completely covered with a brown, fluffy substance that one team member variously calls 'frothy gunk,' 'goop,' and 'snot.'"
Did anyone think the oil disappeared? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ladies and Gentlemen (Score:5, Interesting)
Why is it that this entire thread has been riddled with "Santorum" comments, yet only a couple people seem to have wanted to start any sort of informed discussion about this issue?
Sure, Americans DID go back to bed after the BP disaster (to quote another /.'er) but this disaster is still the reason I think twice before eating shrimp in the U.S. It's an environmental disaster of epic proportions, and we've just let it ride.... even on Slashdot? I remember reading article after article, the outrage and hope that big oil would finally get it's comeuppance... and now nothing?
Also, if any of you people are paid to troll this thread with nonsense (and I know someone in marketing who says this is more likely than you might think), then shame on you.
Re:BP says... (Score:1, Interesting)
Just MAYBE the GOVERNMENT shouldn't have created the false sense of security - the moral hazard, by providing the companies in question with 'insurance' against such accidents, especially in the form of liability caps (what was it, 75 Million per accident?)
And then MAYBE the GOVERNMENT shouldn't have used its power to prevent shallow water drilling with regulations.