NASA Image Captures Extent of Oil Leak off Gulf Coast
April 27th, 2010 by 
A new image taken by a NASA satellite captures the extent of a major oil spill triggered by the explosion aboard an offshore oil rig about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
An estimated 42,000 gallons of oil have been gushing into Gulf waters daily since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank to the sea floor last week.
Eleven crew members were killed in the blast, and several others were injured, and experts say the spill threatens the marine environment across the region, particularly on the Chandeleur and Breton barrier islands in Louisiana, where thousands of birds are nesting.
Oyster beds on the eastern edge of the Mississippi River also are threatened.
In this image, taken by NASA’s Aqua satellite, the swirling sheen of oil — roughly 50 miles long and 33 miles wide — is seen in the lower right corner. Northerly winds have blown the slick away from the coast, but the wind direction is expected to shift Thursday and drive the slick toward the Louisiana wetlands.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
photo: NASA
A new image taken by a NASA satellite captures the extent of a major oil spill triggered by the explosion aboard an offshore oil rig about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. An estimated 42,000 gallons of oil have been gushing into Gulf waters daily since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank to the sea floor last week. Eleven crew members were killed in the blast, and several others were injured, and
experts say the spill threatens the marine environment across the region, particularly on the Chandeleur and Breton barrier islands in Louisiana, where thousands of birds are nesting. Oyster beds on the eastern edge of the Mississippi River also are threatened. In this image, taken by NASA’s Aqua satellite, the swirling sheen of oil — roughly 50 miles long and 33 miles wide — is seen in the lower right corner. Northerly winds have blown the slick away from the coast, but the wind direction is expected to shift Thursday and drive the slick toward the Louisiana wetlands.
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Tags:  gulf of mexico louisiana mississippi offshore drilling oil spill Pollution | [ Permalink ] |
Wow–I don’t envy the Coast Guard having to make the decision involving a tradeoff between water/land pollution and air pollution.
It’s been bugging me for a few days, so I want to point out that oil is measured in barrels, not gallons. It looks pretty bad to see the wrong units in the major local newspaper of the energy capital of the world!
Dr. Amr M. Nasef /PH.D in Marine Ecology:
plase protect marine environment
Please save the world
please save the humanity
please save Atlantic cean
Dr. Amr M. Nasef
PH.D in Marine Ecology
Cairo – Egypt
dr.amr.nasef@hotmail.com
To stop this oil leak you would need something big ,bigger that stuffing the well with mud ,there should be a removal of the old rig and the creation of a sealed rig being built .If the surface is almost flat as what is observed under the sea not withstanding the pressure of the leak a cement based concrete structure big enough to cover over the leak should be built and lowered over the leak ,however if the leak is too powerful to control there should be a rig that fits the challenge to control the functions out there .These are just suggestions and should be taken seriously to ensure the safety of all involved
The advanced leak must be contained ,not withstanding its effect to people all over the world.A cement cylindrical structure should be built to overcome this dreadful leak .If however this does not work ,it may still be an attempt to stop it.Guess we know now what happened to the ancient people when the sea was turning black with red ,so take charge please British Petroleum ,put engineers to the challenge
NASA image captures Gulf oil spill dumping 42,000 gallons so far, killing 11. No end in sight. “Manufacturing plugs” http://bit.ly/cXe0WZ
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