Oil tar balls seen in Key West

[alwayslit]

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...3_N1880093.htm.....can anyone here confirm this?

[CigarNut]

What a drag...

[MortonMilo]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/18/gul...lls/index.html

CNN saying unlikely from spill...

[shilala]

No sense in worrying. Rush Limbaugh says everything will be okay.
"the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Thank the good Lord for Rush. He's truly a Godsend.

[Emjaysmash]

Originally Posted by shilala

No sense in worrying. Rush Limbaugh says everything will be okay.
"the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Thank the good Lord for Rush. He's truly a Godsend.

[mithrilG60]

Originally Posted by shilala

No sense in worrying. Rush Limbaugh says everything will be okay.
"the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Thank the good Lord for Rush. He's truly a Godsend.

The thing that's really scary is the number of people that take commentator and pundit opinions as gospel simply because they're on the CNN/Fox/<insert media outlet here>.

Originally Posted by shilala

No sense in worrying. Rush Limbaugh says everything will be okay.
"the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Thank the good Lord for Rush. He's truly a Godsend.

Ha ha ha...this truly sucks cuz I was wanting to plan a trip down there as I have some travel points with Starwood and was going to spend a week down there...guess not. May have to keep an eye out esp. since I like to cruise down there and I think it's not a good idea to take any cruise in the western Carribean for the next few months.

[kaisersozei]

If the oil coalesces into tar balls, wouldn't that make it easier to just scoop all up?

[wayner123]

I heard this morning that they have been sent to the lab for testing to see where they came from.

Also, they said that sometimes tar balls wash up on shore around areas where a lot of shipping goes on. Which the Keys are prime territory. Also, they were Atlantic side, which is kind of scary.

[thebayratt]

I live on the MS gulf coast. They said we would have oil on our beaches 36 hours after the rig crashed and oil started leaking..... a week later they said the oil would be at our barrier islands........... Here it is 3 weeks or more and we haven't seen anything.

Here is another food for thought.... There is oil that naturally comes up from the ocean floor everyday..... Maybe this is where the Keys' oil came from. That or some Cuban immagrants with a '76 Chevy Pickup floating on barrels sprung a leak on thier way to freedom~

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

If the oil coalesces into tar balls, wouldn't that make it easier to just scoop all up?

Yes, it will eventually harden into what called "coke" if left alone, if im not mistaken. The sun will harden it. They (BP, scientists, etc..) said, if it mainly just sits in the ocean floating around, it will eventually either harden (making it easy to pickup) or harden and sink to the ocean floor. This oil is nothing like the thick goo that the Valdez tragedy had. This oil is a whole different make up and not as thick.

My Dad worked at Chevron Oil Refinery in my hometown for 30yrs. Coke is a byproduct of gasoline production that can be burned to be used in power plants; but the US government made it illegal to do in the USA years back, so we sell to third world countries and they use it in their powerplants. Coke looks like charcoal crushed up into a power like substance.

My

[chachee52]

Heading to Key Largo and Key West in Aug to get married. Fiance is actually a little freaked out about this, either way, she is getting thrown into the water after we say "I Do".
But seriously, after the huge lose to the manatees and other native fish down there, I truely hope that this doesn't get too much damage in the Keys.

Originally Posted by shilala

No sense in worrying. Rush Limbaugh says everything will be okay.
"the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Thank the good Lord for Rush. He's truly a Godsend.

Isn't funny how a failed sports announcer who thinks that he knows everything shows that he actually knows nothing when he opens his mouth.

I have a friend in Florida, and family in Alabama. According to them a majority of people are scared and mad at the inability to stop the leak, and how this might affect their lives and livelihoods. I'm worried about how bad this is going to get before it's stopped.

[macpappy]

Obviously I'm a retired Coastie. I worked quite a few oil spills from various sources during my 21 years of active duty, include the Ixtoc Pemex rig blowout in 1980. There is a 99 percent chance that the tar balls in the Florida keys have absolutely nothing to do with this rig accident and spill. If you have a beach, you have tar balls washing ashore. As previously stated, oil seepage on the ocean floor does occur naturally.

Here's one thing I've learned. The damage from a major oil spill is always a lot less severe than what the news media and environmentalist/anti-oil/anti-drilling fanatics want you to believe. History has proven this time and again. Think about all the oil spilled during World War II because of U-boat activities. Read up on the Torrey Canyon spill off of England and the recovery of the affected coast line. Even the damage from the Exxon Valdez while extremely bad in the short term was not as bad in the long term as expected.

The media reports the way it does for one reason. They make more money. The anti's latch onto anything like this for one reason - to further their cause.

[replicant_argent]

the news reported this morning that it appears it is not the same oil.

Originally Posted by macpappy

Here's one thing I've learned. The damage from a major oil spill is always a lot less severe than what the news media and environmentalist/anti-oil/anti-drilling fanatics want you to believe. History has proven this time and again. Think about all the oil spilled during World War II because of U-boat activities. Read up on the Torrey Canyon spill off of England and the recovery of the affected coast line. Even the damage from the Exxon Valdez while extremely bad in the short term was not as bad in the long term as expected.

The media reports the way it does for one reason. They make more money. The anti's latch onto anything like this for one reason - to further their cause.

I agree completely that the media blows it completely out of proportion, but the one major difference from the Valdez to this one is the waters they are in. I know that Alaska waters are very diverse, but I don't believe that there were reefs up there like there are in the Gulf that could be affected by this spill. Obviously the currents and containment measures affect things as well. Haven't read up a lot on either one lately, though.

I hope that they get this thing capped off soon, and that the damage is not as bad as potentially expected. Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

[macpappy]

Actually, the Exxon Valdez was worse from the standpoint that it didn't happen in open waters. This meant it hit land faster and affected the birds and wildlife more because it was more contained.

The government should have insisted that BP concentrate on shutting off the well instead of giving them a month to try and figure a way to capture the oil. Unfortunately that's where politics come into play.

[Thrak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN...pe=marketsNews

Its confirmed that its not from the gulf oil leak..

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by shilala

No sense in worrying. Rush Limbaugh says everything will be okay.
"the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Thank the good Lord for Rush. He's truly a Godsend.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spil...1254252&page=2

[jmsremax]

Oh man that sucks....my family has a house in Naples.