Marciano: Oil spill reminds me of 'The Blob'
Rob Marciano
CNN Meteorologist
Louisiana - We spent the last two days embedded with the National Wildlife Federation. First we surveyed some wetlands and islands hit directly with oil. Seeing 100s of brown pelicans and white herons nesting on oil stained islands (surrounded by an ineffective boom) was disturbing to say the least.
Most of the oil had retreated. The slick is dynamic. Constantly moving. Breaking up into patches then reforming in whole chunks. Reminds me of the old movie "The Blob," but this is real … and more scary.
On Wednesday, we ventured into the gulf with a team of scientists wanting to get water/oil samples. Didn’t take long to hit oil. Thick oil. Only 12 miles offshore. We saw sea creatures in the slick - some struggling, some dead.
The problem with marine wildlife in the open ocean - they’re called “pelagic” - is that most that die from this environmental disaster will not wash up on shore but rather sink to the bottom and never be counted. New estimates put the oil spewing from the well at over 12K barrels/day. Now this spill is bigger than Exxon Valdez. But that one happened at the surface … near shore. We could see the damage and we could see dead wildlife.
Here in the Gulf of Mexico, what we DON’T see will likely be much much worse.
BTW: I’m working with an amazing duo - field Producer Tracy Sabo and photojournalist Dominic Swan. Talented, tireless and two of the best in the business!
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Filed under: 360° Radar • Gulf Oil Spill • Rob Marciano |
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our children and our childrens children will still be feeling the effects of long after we are goneif the inspections would have been done efficently and correct the first time then this would not be happening.check and see how much money bp paid for things to be over looked on the oil rig
The leak has not been fixed yet.... what if all efforts fail?
Thank goodness the Eco Lobby forced drilling in such deep water. Oh, wait...
Boycott BP
The more I learn about this the more furious I get. BP seems to be the poster child for corporate irresponsibility. You would have thought that the Texas City accident would have taught them a lesson but apparently not. Lying about the extent of the spill is the last straw. I find myself asking – what can someone like me do? I finally thought of something. Boycott BP. Gasoline is fungible. It’s all the same. I am going to buy Shell, or Citgo, or Chevron, or Valero or whatever. I simply will not give any more of my money to this company. It’s not much if I’m the only one who does it, but it could be huge if everyone does it. Let’s run BP out of business.
The way this oil spill is being treated is terrifying. The president and BP needs to take a stand. BP needs to use some of the billions of dollars they make to fix a fatal mistake. The oil is ruining business and ruining wildlife. I live on the east coast and I am worried that it will effect our shores because the live feed looks like the oil is just pouring out.
All those precious creatures... so SAD!
This is so tragic and the devastation so overwhelming. Thanks Rob and CNN for reporting what is really going on out there.
It is greatly saddening to see everyone still going about their daily lives in this time of crisis. I am writing this to tell everyone that 50 years from now we will still see the effects of this leak. I'm glad to see that the president is still schamoozing with the soccer team. If I were president I would have set up camp on the beach and volunteered all of my time to clean this thing up. Take me very serious when I say "we are all in trouble". If there is anyone that I can contact to volunteer 100% of my time to help clean this up I would like to speak with them. Please help me!!! It is no longer about money, it is about survival people....think about it, our whole lives and the way we used to live is over....
We need federal oversight on these rigs. Recent actions and comments from the oil companies shows they can't be trusted. I want eyes and ears on the rigs and platforms to monitor what is going on out there. These companies have only one objective and that is to get the oil out of the ground as cheaply as possible.
Bp needs to be dissolved after they clean this up.
Sorry to let the wind out of your sails, but this isn't going to fall out of the public eye for the rest of our lives. If this top kill doesn't work, once hurricane season gets here, the oil slick will become a global problem with a biblical impact.
Why us everybody still tripping on what BP Say's? It's time for the USA To clean all this up. Put us out of work Americans to work by helping clean the oil up. I, for one need a job and will work.
Soul-destroying, I can't bear to watch the news.....
This is an environmental disaster. I hope to see someone start to do something even if it does not work. I would suggest the use of wood shavings/chips to be blown over the marsh area. This would help to absorb oil and possibly create a barrier to some wild life.
After 90 minutes, the blob was over. This is more like oceanographic nuclear fallout, with a shorter half-life. I remember Santa Barbra in 69'. It (undersea ecosystem) is still trying to recover. It can be "cleaned up"...on top. Underneath, I'm afraid not.
Soon, people will awaken from the delusion that it will all be ok. Then there will be a backlash the likes of which haven't been seen since the Viet Nam era.
Sir, sometimes things get broken too badly to fix. I will continue my boycott of BP and hope and pray for the best
Great job reporting Mr. Rob, saw your segment and can see the pain in your eyes, being there and seeing what you're seeing must really be beyond words. Take Care~
This will finish Obama. He has done nothing right for the middle income and loqwer income people. Now he sits and twiddles his hands while this disaster got even worse before he would go look at the damage. Remind any one of Bush.
dw
I was wondering how a normal person such as myself would go about submitting an idea to help fix the disaster in the gulf.
obviously there experts can not figure it out.
Where is "Brownie" when you really need him? ..."Good job Brownie" G. W. Bush.
This is heart wrenching. Southern seafood distributers, restaurants, fishermen, etc. may want to explore organic farming as a means to an end. Fish farms might need to modernize and bare down as demands change. Shrimp farming, fish farming, crawdad farming made possible by man made facilities. Partnerships with Organic Markets (Wholefoods) might help.....
Thanks for the report, Rob. What a mess! God bless all who are affected.
Unbelievable incompetence and negligence on a scale never seen before. .So very sad to see this beautiful area ruined for decades to come.all for the greed of the oil industry. You can't fix something that has been destroyed. I think jail time is order for BP executives. If this happened in China they would have shot the ones responsible. Kill one Panda bear in China and you are finished.
This is ridiculous. I can't believe this problem still hasn't been fixed.
Drill Baby DRILL!!!
Electric cars? Are you serious? AMERICA LOVES OIL!
BP is taking all suggestions from all quarters. if you 've got a solution, step up!
Keep up the good work. We don't need this disaster to fall out of the public eye after a few weeks. BP needs to be held accountable and they need to pay for the clean up (but give the fed, state, and local governments control of how it is done). BP needs to pay for the monitoring and recovery/restoration. BP needs to be fined billions for negligence.
What a nightmare...
i feel i can build a skimmer system that will help clean some of this oil
How about a public competition - similar to the X Prize foundation, in which private citizens are rewarded for developing technologies to benefit mankind - to develop a solution to stop the oil that's pouring into the gulf and clean it up before it becomes a disaster of epic proportions?
Drill baby drill