Where did the Gulf oil go? Deepwater bacteria are eating it up.
9 replies
EshlemonForum VeteranOPNew microbe discovered eating oil spill in Gulf
WASHINGTON — The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has revealed a previously unknown type of oil-eating bacteria, which is suddenly flourishing.
Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported Tuesday in the online journal Science Express.
Their findings are based on more than 200 samples collected from 17 deepwater sites between May 25 and June 2. They found that the dominant microbe in the oil plume is a new species, closely related to members of Oceanospirillales.
This microbe thrives in cold water, with temperatures in the deep recorded at 5 degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit).
Hazen suggested that the bacteria may have adapted over time due to periodic leaks and natural seeps of oil in the Gulf.
Remeber reading a couple weeks ago most of the oil spill has been lost and nobody knew where it was. Mother nature taking care of itself.
Syfy should make one of their crummy movies on this with the bacteria moving to warmer climate and gobbling up all the worlds oil.
padre31Luxury BoxNoticed this story Eshlemon, but my BS detector went on "DefCon 2" alert simply because it is quite convenient that after the largest oil spill in US history the idea is being floated that bacteria will dispose of the spilled oil.
As I thought about it, where are the metrics for how much oil the bacteria can consume? At that rate, how long could it take for the bacteria to dispose of the oil?
I've yet to see that mentioned but yet, to "Joe Average" the idea has been planted "Oh, that oil spill, bacteria ate it all"..that is the sort of shallow point that Cable News and the Limbaughs of the world will parrot but never bother to ask any questions whilst parroting.
Now what is fascinating to me is whether or not different forms of bacteria actually produce Crude Oil in the first place as the meme is "Oil, it comes from decayed dinosaurs!"
Err..no it doesn't...
DesidesForum VeteranI'm still getting a good laugh at the expense of those who believed there was oil everywhere and that this was an enormous environmental disaster.
That's what you get when your primary source for the supposedly devastating environmental consequences of the spill is Mother freaking Jones.
"Not you." — Tywin Lannister
padre31Luxury Box"Desides wrote:
I'm still getting a good laugh at the expense of those who believed there was oil everywhere and that this was an enormous environmental disaster.
That's what you get when your primary source for the supposedly devastating environmental consequences of the spill is Mother freaking Jones.
You are crowing far to early Des, the real damage will have occured at the photoplankton/small crustacean level and will genuinely take 3 yrs to asses the impact on things such as fishing and shrimping industries.
Those creatures have a very fast life cycle so large scale damage will appear relatively quickly.
DesidesForum Veteran"padre31 wrote:
You are crowing far to early Des, the real damage will have occured at the photoplankton/small crustacean level and will genuinely take 3 yrs to asses the impact on things such as fishing and shrimping industries.
Those creatures have a very fast life cycle so large scale damage will appear relatively quickly.
You misinterpret me. I'm not saying that there is no environmental damage. I'm saying that the underwater apocalypse everyone was afraid of did not occur. There's a vast difference of scale here.
Also, the feds have already said it's safe to eat seafood harvested from the Gulf, so I'd imagine any trickle up effect would be minimal at best.
Take that, Mother Jones.
"Not you." — Tywin Lannister
The planet will be fine.... it's the people that are screwed!
DesidesForum Veteran"Brakos wrote:
The planet will be fine.... it's the people that are screwed!
Carlin put it in a slightly different way. :shifty:
"Not you." — Tywin Lannister
"Desides wrote:
Carlin put it in a slightly different way. :shifty:
Yeah, still, he had a damn good point. lol
"Desides wrote:
Carlin put it in a slightly different way. :shifty:
:hi5: