Where Is The Oil Slick Going?

This the latest colorized satellite image from Rofer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service.  Notice how the thickest oil is south of the spill (red dot) and now moving southwest.  The lighter color is a thinner oil or oil sheen.  The loop current isn’t affecting the spill just yet, rather the clockwise rotating eddy centered near 89.25W & 27.37N is controlling the flow of the oil spill.  In fact, all of the small eddies are steering the oil away from land for now.

This is NOAA’s oil spill forecast for Sunday:  Most of the thick oil is still well off shore, but there are a few areas getting beached oil.  Click image to see better detail.

If the oil spill can’t be stopped, eventually it will make it into the loop current and head toward south Florida.  From there it catches the Gulf Stream and moves toward Cape Hatteras and the east coast.

Some things to keep in mind …  the initial media reports of the oil on land will be, “It isn’t that bad; we thought this was going to be much worse.”  The reason you’ll hear this is because the oil is becoming weathered, which means the thickest oil is sinking to the ocean floor first.  What we don’t see  is the impact on tuna, dolphin, marlin, sharks, plankton, etc.  It will take more time to get this oil to the surface.

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